


Perseverance

by CrushingOnSans



Series: COSOS Stuff [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cherryberry - Freeform, Child Death, Classicberry - Freeform, M/M, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Multi, OT3, Panic Attack, Polyamory, Tags Contain Spoilers, Trigger Warnings, classiccherryberry, cosos, graphic depiction of miscarriage, kustard - Freeform, resulting depressive episodes, sanst3, sansxredxblue, skelepreg, talking about past miscarriage, vague references to suicidal thoughs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-02 23:35:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10955073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrushingOnSans/pseuds/CrushingOnSans
Summary: Everyone's favorite OT3 (or at least my favorite) and their story.





	1. Just My Luck

**Author's Note:**

> I will be posting the chapters of this once a day, but the full story is already available as Chapter 100 of CrushingOn Stupid One-Shots.
> 
> This story does contain heavy themes, please check the tags!

Sans still had no idea how he had convinced his two best friends to live with him, but it had started out as quite possibly the best decision he had ever made. There was absolutely nothing better than waking up to Blue’s cooking every morning, and, despite his many complaints, he actually quite enjoyed the loud, out-of-key renditions of Ed Sheeran songs ringing through the house every time Red took a shower. It was peaceful, and the closest to happy he’d been in years. There was a certain amount of entertainment-filled contentment that came with living with two of his favorite people in the multiverse.

 

It really wasn’t much of a surprise when Sans found himself falling for them. It happened a little bit at a time, starting with the well-meant nagging of Blue and the near-sighted needling from Red. He noticed how his soul would jump when Blue grabbed his hands, as he tended to do when he got excited. He found himself smiling privately every time he heard Red laugh, the sound rare enough that it was a treat every time it happened. Every single time one of them walked into the room he was in, he could actually  _ feel _ his soul lighting up with happiness.

 

But here he was, sitting on the couch, the two of them just across the room, and he felt as though his soul was imploding. 

 

Of fucking course this would be his luck. Of course this would happen to  _ him. _

 

When Blue got home from work, he was excited about...something? It was honestly impossible to understand what he was going on about, with how fast he was talking. Sans and Red had just sat and watched him for a moment before Red stood up, crossing the room to try to calm him down, much to Sans’ amusement. Red laughed loudly, grabbing Blue’s wrists and pulling him just a bit closer than he was, and Sans just sat and watched, savoring the atmosphere. 

 

_ God, I’m so fucked _ .

 

Then Blue reached out, grabbing Red by the sides of his head and pulling him forward, practically crushing their mouths together. 

 

Blue kissed Red.

 

And now Sans was sitting here, biting back tears, wondering how he’d ever thought he had a chance. Of  _ course _ the two people he…

 

He stood abruptly, sure that if he stayed for another moment, he would completely embarrass himself. Hoping that the look on his face was anything but heartbroken, he crossed the room to the door, looking back just as they broke out of their kiss. Blue’s eyelights were hazy, and Red looked shocked, as though he couldn’t believe his luck. 

 

Sans tried to ignore the fact that that was  _ exactly _ as he’d imagined them with…

 

He turned away. 

 

“I’ll let you two talk this out,” he mumbled, pushing open the door and doing his best not to slam it behind him.

 

~~~

 

When Sans woke up, it was to a pounding headache and a fuzzy brain. He groaned aloud and pressed the flat of his hand against his forehead.  _ Fuuuck… _ He tried to bring his other hand up to rub at his eye sockets, only to find his arm was trapped under something. He opened his eyes slowly, grimacing at the light, and looked down.

 

He was greeted with the sight of Blue, his head tucked up against Sans' bare ribcage, breathing softly. Sans had an arm wrapped around him from underneath, and now that he knew what had it trapped, he could feel that Blue also appeared to be, at the very least, shirtless; a fact that was expanded upon when he shifted slightly and his bare pelvis scraped against Sans'.

 

There was a long moment in which Sans just stared, the pieces very slowly coming together. Then, all at once, it hit him, and the air was split by a shriek as he propelled himself away from his sleeping alternate, landing on the floor with a loud  _ thump _ .

 

Blue, having been awoken by the other’s ungainly exit from the bed, sleepily looked over the side of the mattress. "Sans? What are you doing down there?"

 

Sans just stared at him, unsure how to respond.  _ Oh, fuck... _ What had he done? Sweet, romantic-at-heart Blue, who, with the way he talked, sometimes seemed as though he'd fallen headfirst into one of those cheesy rom-coms that Red always pretended to-- oh  _ shit. _ Red.

 

"Sans?" Blue was still staring at him, very obviously confused and more than a little concerned.

 

"I...I'm just...I don't know. I'm..." Sans couldn't seem to string any of his words together coherently, and it was putting him even closer to the edge of a panic attack, his breath coming faster as his mind spun, trying to figure out what had happened. He couldn’t  _ possibly _ have been so far gone that he had--

 

"You must be freezing!" Blue said, observant as ever, and he pushed himself up to stand, dragging the blanket with him. Sans dragged his eyes away from the large amount of exposed spine he could see, taking a deep breath. His mind tried to remind him that it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it all before, apparently, but he pushed the thought away, feeling vaguely nauseous with guilt. Blue came around the bed, settling down to sit beside him and wrapping the blanket around the both of them. 

 

“Are you okay, Sans?”

 

Of fucking course he wasn’t okay. He was a homewrecking piece of shit. "Yeah. I'm fine." Blue frowned at him, picking up on the lilt of the lie in his voice, but let it go. 

 

"You were pretty drunk last night, weren't you?" he commented, his cheeks flushing. His fingers were picking at the edge of the blanket, and Sans felt himself entranced by the motion for a long moment before he realized the other had spoken.

 

“A-apparently. D-did...Were you drunk too, or…?”

 

Blue scrunched his brow, seeming confused. “No… I’m not usually a big drinker. I don’t like the taste. Do you...not remember what happened?”

 

All Sans could bring himself to do was shake his head. Blue hadn’t even been drunk? He didn’t really seem like the cheating type…

 

Blue’s eyes widened in understanding. “Well, that would explain why you seem a bit out of sorts. Are you okay?”

 

Sans snorted. “Yeah, just peachy. I have a headache, my… well, my  _ everything _ hurts, to be honest, and I just fucking woke up in bed with one of my two best friends, who also happens to be fucking... _ dating  _ or whatever the hell you are, my other best friend! Everything is  _ perfect _ !”

 

Blue laid a cautious hand on his upper arm, making him flinch and look over. The other’s eyelights had dimmed with concern, and there was some emotion in them that Sans wasn’t quite sure how to identify. “Sans, it’s okay. It’s not what you think, I promise.”

 

Sans, confused, was about to ask what he meant when the door swung open, and Red was framed in the doorway. Sans' conflicting emotions were making it hard to think, but he knew one thing for sure. He had really screwed up. Red was pulling a black tank top over his head, and seemed to be about to say something, but Sans’ strangled gasp cut him off. He turned to face him, looking confused, then looked back at Blue with a question in his eyes. 

 

Sans couldn’t take the waiting. "Red, I am so sorry, I...I didn’t mean for this to--” He realized that he was crying, seemingly out of nowhere, but he powered through it, wanting to do his best to save his relationship with, really, either of them. “I never would have done this, not to either of you, I was just...I was drunk, I was so fucking drunk, I had no idea what I was doing. I know that’s no excuse, I just…” Damn it, he was rambling, wasn’t he? He didn't think he'd ever been so terrified in his life. He’d fucked up so badly. He'd just managed to lose both of them for good. He'd have to move out, they'd never want to speak to him again, maybe he’d even screwed things up between them,  _ why was he such a piece of shit _ ?

 

Red raised a brow, looking back at Blue again before he turned his gaze back to Sans. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that there was no real judgement there, but he still couldn’t help the wave of panic that crashed over him as his mind transformed the other’s expression into one of rage. 

 

“Uh...yeah, wow, I’m so betrayed. How could you, and all that.” Red's voice was oddly flat, but Sans was already lost to his panic, burying his face in his arms. He'd ruined everything. He'd lost them, he'd lost them for good, and on top of that, he'd destroyed  _ their _ happiness. He couldn't believe he had let himself be so completely  _ stupid _ . He started to shake, wrapping his arms around himself as his tears started to run down his face.

 

“Whoa, hey!” Red crossed the room to them, and Sans was faintly aware of him cupping his cheeks, trying to get him to look up. Sans pulled his skull away, not wanting to face the accusations he was sure were present in the other’s face. “Sans, hey, stop, why are you crying?!” 

 

"Red, he doesn't remember anything from last night!" 

 

Sans was vaguely aware of Blue’s voice, but he couldn't comprehend what he was saying. He was crying so hard now he could barely breathe, great, wracking sobs ripping through his chest as he realized what an idiot he'd been for ever thinking he could be happy, even for a moment.

 

Everything always went to shit, he should know that by now.

 

"Aw, fuck, Sans, no, come on, I’m not mad at you, it’s alright, it’s all gonna be alright, don’t cry, okay?" Red’s hands found his cheeks again, this time just stroking his thumbs against the bone instead of trying to pull him anywhere. 

 

Sans felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around him before he was gathered up against someone's chest, the back of his ribcage pressed to their front. They started to take deep, exaggerated breaths, and Sans found himself copying them. "Breathe, Sans. Just breathe, it’s all going to be okay." Blue murmured.

 

"I'm so sorry..." he heard Red say quietly. Blue said something back to him, but Sans didn't hear it. He was just focused on the movement of the other’s ribs against his and the fingers still tracing delicate circles over his cheekbones. In, out. In, out. In, out. Deep breaths. He felt himself coming down from his panic, the tears stopping.

 

Through it all, they continued murmuring to him, the soothing timbre of their voices helping him out of the attack. As he calmed, the words they were saying started to become a little more clear, until finally, Red said something from his place right next to Sans’ skull that made him jump violently, turning to face him and freezing in Blue’s hold. "What did you just say?" he asked incredulously.

 

Red moved back slightly as his whole face turned his namesake, and he stammered a little before saying, "I...I l-love you. Sans.” Then his face was set determinedly, and he repeated with conviction. “I love you.”

 

Sans just stared at him for a moment. "What?"

 

"So do I, Sans. We both love you. We really do. It's all okay." Blue said softly from right beside his face.   

 

Sans looked back at him, completely at a loss. “...what happened last night?”

 

Red shifted in front of him, drawing his attention. When he sensed Sans’ eyes on him, his cheeks lit up in a blush, seeming vaguely uncomfortable. “Well...uh...after you left, we sat down to talk. Like you said we should. And we...well, we sorta...we realized--”

 

Letting out a long-suffering sigh at Red’s storytelling inabilities, Blue interrupted, “We talked it out and we realized that we both wanted to be with you, too, Sans. And then this sappy romantic-” he gestured to Red, rolling his eyes jokingly as his voice dropped into a raspy approximation of Red's, “-said that we should ‘totally have a threeway’, so I was going to leave the house to go find you.”

 

Sans glanced back at Blue before grinning forward at Red, the familiar bickering atmosphere relaxing him more than even their confessions had. “You came to find me to have a threeway?”

 

“No!” Blue looked scandalized, and Red snickered, earning himself a glare. “No, I told Red he could have a threeway with himself--”

 

“Mission accomplished.”

 

“--and I went to go make sure you were okay!” Blue continued, ignoring Red completely. “When you left you seemed pretty upset, and I was worried! But when I opened the door you were already right outside.”

 

“You were pretty drunk.” said Red quietly, the grin from his own fantastic jokes slowly fading at the memory. “I had no idea you were blackout drunk, though.”

 

Blue nodded, then continued, “So you came in, and we tried to tell you, but you just kept...you kept trying to go to your room, saying that you couldn’t stay here with us because all you would do was screw everything up. I asked you why, and you said that it was because you loved us both how we loved each other. You said you wanted us to be happy, but that you couldn't be happy watching us love one another. That it would break your heart." Blue looked as though he was about to start crying, and Sans found himself cuddling closer in an attempt to reassure him. He felt Red's hands grab onto his own and his thumbs stroking along his metacarpals.

 

This time it was Red who spoke. "Then, Blue, he, well, he told you that he loved you just as much as he loved me, and I felt the same way, and I told you too. And you just...you just looked at us for a while. It was kinda creepy, actually. Then you, well you sorta…” He shifted again, his blush growing brighter before he continued. “You kissed me? Then, I mean, you can probably figure out where it went from there,” he said, gesturing at Blue’s bare ribcage. 

 

Sans didn’t know what to say. How did he react to this, that the two people that he...and they…

 

“You love me?” he whispered, unbelievingly.

 

“I love the two of you more than I even thought was possible.” Blue replied matter-of-factly at the same time that Red simply said, “Yes.”

 

Sans could feel tears slipping down his cheeks again, but the crying was not accompanied by any of the gasping panic from before. “ _ Why? _ ”

 

Blue just looked confused, but Red’s face fell, sadness coming into his eyes as he realized what Sans was asking. 

 

"Or.. I guess... How? How could you possibly... How could you love  _ me _ ?"

 

Blue looked as though someone had stabbed him through the stomach. He was looking at Sans like he'd never seen him before. "How could we  _ not _ , Sans?" he asked, sounding as though he was genuinely at a loss. 

 

Red’s grip on his hands tightened, and Sans turned to look at him, eyes still filled with tears. 

"Sans, you are amazing. You are kind and caring and strong, and you just...make me feel as though there is something worthwhile to all of this. That’s...that’s not something that’s easy to do, with the life I’ve had.”

 

Blue was watching Red’s face right alongside Sans, warmth coming into his eyelights as he saw the devotion the other had to the skeleton they both loved so much. A lesser monster would have been jealous, he supposed, but all he could think in that moment was how amazing it was, the strides Red had made to be able to care this much about anything. And, by Toriel, did Sans deserve to have that love. They both deserved all the love in the world, and he wanted nothing more than to give it to them.

 

He leaned forward and settled his face into the crook of Sans's neck, wrapping his arms all the way around him. "I love you. So much more than I'll ever be able to tell you, either of you." Sans heard him murmur against his bones.

 

Sans felt tears fill his eyes again, but this time, they felt different. "I love you too." he whispered, letting go of one of Red's hands to wrap an arm around Blue. Shakingly, he pressed a soft kiss to the side of his head before turning to the slightly larger skeleton. "You too. I love you too." he said quietly, a small, disbelieving smile curving his mouth.

 

Red smiled when he heard it, then, a sly grin crossing his face, he asked, "You know, since you don't remember the last time does that make this our first kiss?"

 

Sans blinked, confused. "Our what?"

 

Then Red's free hand was moving, and he cupped Sans' chin, pulling his face forward slightly to meet his own.

 

Red was kissing him. Red was  _ kissing  _ him.  _ Red _ was kissing  _ him _ .

 

He had Blue's arms wrapped tightly around him and his breath on his neck, and Red was kissing him.

 

Maybe he did have a chance to be happy, after all.


	2. Misunderstanding

Fell knocked on the door of the house his brother shared with his alternates, rubbing his exposed humeri in an attempt to stave off the cold. God, the city was spoiling the hell out of him, the large amount of people and machinery keeping everything warm and completely devoid of snow. He needed to get this Royal Guard business (bullshit, in his opinion) sorted out so that he could return to Snowdin and fix his tolerance to low temperatures. After all, if he were to regain his position in this backwards universe, he would need to be able to be as adjustable as he once was. 

 

There was the sound of running footsteps, and Fell couldn’t help the indulgent smile that crossed his face. There was no way that was anyone but Blue, and just like everyone else who had ever met him, Fell had a soft spot for the little skeleton. It certainly didn’t help that Stretch talked about him as though he were the greatest thing in the multiverse. 

 

Though it was entirely possible that that may be the truth, it didn’t mean Fell enjoyed hearing it from the person he was going to be married to. 

 

The door swung open, and sure enough, Fell was greeted by the smiling face of his brother’s much smaller alternate. “Fell!” he stage whispered, looking surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you!”

Fell cocked a brow, but followed his lead with the volume, lowering his voice to reply. “Yes, well, I was in the area, and I needed to return a few keys of Sans’.”

 

“Sans’?”

 

“Red’s.”

 

“Oh!” Blue opened the door wider in invitation. “Come on in, just try to keep the volume down for the moment. Red and Sans are asleep and I was just making some dinner!”

 

Fell snorted in derision, but did as Blue asked and came in quietly, slipping off his wet boots before pulling the keys from his pocket. “Would you mind terribly if I grabbed one or two of your ‘world-famous’ tacos while I am here? Your useless brother practically begged me to pick some up.” His tone was devoid of any real venom as he spoke about his fiancee, and Blue beamed up at him. 

 

“Of course! In fact, why don’t you go wash your hands and stay for dinner? You can bring back the leftovers, so that way they will be at their freshest!”

 

“Oh, I don’t know--”

 

“I insist!” Blue exclaimed, star-shaped eyelights shining brightly. His voice had risen in his excitement, and it seemed to prompt some motion from the lump of blankets on the sofa, drawing Fell’s gaze. 

 

Over the last several years, it had become increasingly common to find his brother sound asleep in the oddest of places. Sitting at his sentry station, sprawled sideways across the kitchen table, even, once, up in a tree for no good reason at all. So it was, really, anything but unusual or strange to see Red asleep on the couch. 

 

What  _ was _ unusual was the fact that he seemed to have duplicated in his sleep. 

 

Sans was snoring softly, his head tucked up under Red’s chin and the other’s arms wrapped tightly around him, holding him closely as though afraid he would wake to find them empty. Their chests rose and fell in unison, and Fell didn’t think he’d ever seen Red so still while he was asleep. 

 

They were both entirely dead to the world, a fluffy blanket covering them from the waist down. They were completely wrapped up in one another, the position so obviously loving and intimate that Fell could feel himself flushing, wondering if he should even be allowed to see them, or if he was intruding in on something private and wholesome. 

 

He turned back to Blue, trying not to feel insulted by the fact that Red hadn’t told him that he was in a relationship when it was this obvious. Was it because he thought Fell would disapprove? 

 

Sure, he complained about his brother’s counterpart often enough, but he had his own lazy lover; and it wasn’t as though he would ever fight against any happiness his brother could find.

 

“How long has that been going on?” he asked quietly, turning away as he struggled to find an explanation that didn’t mean he’d been imagining any progress he’d made with Red. 

 

“Only since last night,” answered Blue, and Fell snorted as he imagined how Blue would know the exactly timeline. He opened his mouth to make a comment that he was pretty sure would have the other kicking him out on his ass, tacos be damned, but he was brought up short by the expression on Blue’s face. 

 

He was watching the two on the couch with something unidentifiable in his eyes, a small smile curving the edge of his mouth. 

 

Fell couldn’t dislodge the feeling that he was missing something.

 

Before he could ask, Blue gestured to the bathroom, smiling up at him. “Feel free to wash up! I need to go finish up dinner!”

 

When Fell returned to the living room, it was to quiet giggles, exaggerated snoring coming from the now blanket-covered lump that was probably Sans. 

 

Red was currently trying to push the other skeleton off of him, laughing every time the other just rolled right back to where he had been. "Get off, ya big lump, I gotta go change."

 

Sans grumbled, apparently still somewhat asleep (or maybe just faking it), and only seemed to clutch tighter to the other. "Nah...Too comfy." he mumbled as he stuck his face out of the blanket only to bury it into Red’s shirt, and Fell could see his grin pressed up against the cloth. Then he raised his head, looking Red in the eye. "Also, you smell nice. It just makes  _ scents _ for me to stay right here forever." he said before burrowing back into the other.

 

Red snorted loudly at the stupid pun, trying to dislodge him again before seeming to give up, rolling his eyes and throwing his hands into the air. "Blue!"

 

There was the sound of clattering from the kitchen, undoubtedly the sounds of Blue preparing dinner. "Yes, Red?" came the shouted reply.

 

"Come rescue me from this terrifying skeleton monster, please!"

 

Fell snorted loudly at that, drawing his brother's attention. Red's eyes widened and a dark blush bloomed across his face. "H-hey Boss...How long have you been standing there?"

 

Sans's head popped up, and Fell could see dark blue covering his cheekbones as they made momentary eye contact.

 

"Long enough for you to have thoroughly embarrassed yourself." Fell said, trying not to grin at how flustered the two were.

 

"Oh, stop teasing them, Fell." came Blue's bright voice from the doorway. "Can the 'terrifying skeleton monster' come help me in here? I need some vegetables chopped."

 

"Sure thing, Blue!" came the immediate reply as Sans scrambled off of Red and practically ran into the kitchen. Fell's eyes followed him, fairly certain that was the most excited about work the other had ever been, before he looked back at his still-flushing brother.

 

Red had sat up and was folding up the blanket, apparently trying not to make eye contact as his blush began to fade slightly. "What're you doing here?" he finally asked, though not unkindly.

 

Fell made his way to the couch, sitting lightly beside Red as he finished folding. "I dropped off your lab keys and Blue invited me to stay for dinner." he answered, then, more quietly, "I'm glad you're happy. It's been a long time since I've seen you smile like that."

 

Red glanced up at him in shock, but before he could say anything, there was a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by a lot of laughter. Red flinched, looking up at the doorway, then stood quickly, looking like he was very grateful for the excuse not to continue the conversation. "I should go see--" he started, but Fell waved a hand, cutting him off.

 

"You said you had to change, right? Go ahead, I'll go see what's wrong." he said, standing up and beginning to make his way towards the kitchen. Red didn't move for a moment, then Fell heard him sigh quietly and start up the steps to his room.

 

He looked around the edge of the doorway, and saw Blue picking up an empty pan, seeming to be recovering from the loud noise and the surprise of suddenly dropping something so heavy.

 

While he was thus distracted, Sans reached from his place at the cutting board to steal some of the cooking meat, popping it into his mouth before Blue could stop him.

 

"Hey!" Blue said, giggling slightly. Neither of them seemed to have noticed his presence in the kitchen, and Fell found himself preferring it that way. It felt like he was missing something here, the atmosphere between the two seeming to be...different than he would have expected.

 

"What?" Sans said, his voice laced with false innocence. "I didn't do anything!"

 

"I saw you!" Blue laughed, walking back over to the stove and setting down the empty pan before swatting Sans on the shoulder. Sans grabbed the hand and pulled him closer, causing Blue to stumble slightly and allowing Sans to wrap him up in a hug, still grinning at him like the cat that ate the canary.

 

"What? Me eating your mea--"

 

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Sans!" Blue cried, trying to push the other away despite the large smile across his face.

 

Sans just pulled him closer, planting a semi-chaste kiss on his teeth before saying, "Aw, come on, you know you love--"

 

"What. The. Fuck?"

 

They both jumped violently before swinging around to look at him, looking shocked. They kept holding onto each other, and there was nothing even  _ approaching _ guilt on their faces, which just pissed Fell off all the more. 

 

Blue frowned, finally letting go of Sans to put his hands on his hips. “Fell! You scared me! And please watch your language!”

 

Fell just stared at him, completely flabbergasted. Did he somehow not realize the position they were in? There was no way. Stretch may think of his older brother as a child, for whatever reason, but Blue was an adult. He  _ had  _ realize that what Fell had just walked in on was damning. “I will  _ not _ ‘watch my language’! You don’t get to act all innocent after that...that little…” He threw his hands up in frustration. Red didn’t fucking deserve this betrayal. Weren’t these two supposed to be his best friends?

 

Sans’ eyes widened in understanding, and he took a step towards Fell, his hands out in a placating gesture. “Hang on, this isn’t what you think--”

 

“How the hell is this anything else? What, is  _ kissing _ just a sign of friendship in your backwards-ass worlds? I suppose if you fucked behind my brother’s back, too, that would just be a fun little game, wouldn’t it?!” Fell hadn’t been this angry in a long time. He’d gotten his hopes up out there, that Red had  _ finally _ found happiness, that he wouldn’t have to feel so damn guilty about finding his own. 

 

Of course his useless older brother would pick the one damn person in this sugar-coated joke of a universe with enough backbone to tear that apart. 

 

Blue spoke up now, looking worried. "Fell, please just--"

 

Fell snarled, cutting him off right at the start. Blue looked vaguely affronted, taking a step back and crossing his arms, but he maintained eye contact, opening his mouth to speak again just as Red walked into the kitchen. 

 

He came to an abrupt stop in the doorway as he took in the atmosphere in the room. There was an overwhelming silence as they all turned to look at him, and he was tempted to just back away slowly. Instead, he turned to look at Blue and Sans, who both looked exasperated, with a question in his eyes. 

 

Sans sighed, then said, “He saw us kissing and now he won’t listen to reason.”

 

Red snorted, and Fell narrowed his eyes, confused. 

 

“Well, screw you Blue, I guess it’s your turn to be the homewrecker,” Red said, winking at his alternates. Sans’ face lit up in a blush as Red frowned suddenly. “Wait, why does everyone always assume  _ I’m _ the one getting cheated on?”

 

Sans opened his mouth, the snark of what he was planning to say practically reverberating around the room before Blue smacked him on the arm. “Sans, don’t you dare--”

 

“Should I be heartbroken right now?” Red asked, throwing his hand over his forehead in his most dramatic pose before shouting, “How could you?!”

 

Sans snorted, and Red pushed up off the wall to approach the other two, very fake-sounding sobs coming out of his mouth. "Betrayal! Sadness! Jealousy!" he exclaimed, stomping in circles around the other two.

 

"Oh my god, Red--" Blue tried, reaching out and grabbing Red by the arm.

 

"Bitterness!"

 

"Stop!" Blue said, but he was giggling. "First of all, you can't just shout out the emotion you're supposed to be feeling, that's not--"

 

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?" Fell shouted.

 

Three pairs of eyes turned towards him at once, amusement fading into a mixture of confusion and resignation.

 

"Red, how can you be joking about this? These mother _ fuckers _ ," Fell shouted, putting emphasis on the swear word and glaring directly at Blue as though daring him to say anything about it, "have done something... _ unforgivable _ , and you're acting like an idiot!"

 

There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Sans spoke up. "Fell, we actually--"

 

"Shut. Up." He growled, shifting his glare from Blue to Red's supposed boyfriend. "How could you possibly do something like this to him? My brother is one of the most loyal people you will ever meet! He doesn't deserve this bullshit! And just because he can't confront this doesn't mean I won't for him!"

 

Before Fell could say anything else or summon an attack to dust the traitorous fuckers, a hand was placed gently on his arm. "Boss," started Red, a smile on his face like Fell hadn't seen in a long time. "Thank you for saying that, but I think there's been a misunderstanding."


	3. Lame Jokes

Blue smiled to himself as he listened to the laughter drifting down the stairs. He’d made the mistake of sending Sans and Red upstairs to put away the laundry by themselves while he did the dishes, his mind too occupied to remember the last time he had trusted Sans with the task of putting socks in their proper places. He’d started up the stairs to help them, only to be brought up short by the sound of their enjoyment. 

 

He was sure it was being sparked by some sort of awful joke, or a barrage of puns he would secretly love to be privy to, but it still filled his soul with joy to hear the two of them so happy. Just a few weeks earlier, either of them being truly, consistently happy had seemed like a far off dream. 

 

But now…

 

His smile grew, and he shook his head fondly as he started up the stairs. Where would any of them be if none of this had happened, himself included? He wasn’t sure he really wanted to think about it. 

 

He really was the luckiest skeleton in the underground, wasn’t he?

 

"--what she said!" Sans was saying as Blue reached the door to the bedroom they all seemed to be sharing nowadays, which had originally belonged to Blue. Red laughed loudly again, and Blue heard a muffled thump that he was pretty sure meant a pillow had been thrown at Sans's head.

 

"That one was awful, man. I can't believe you've stooped so low."

 

"Hey, that's not low! These kinds of jokes are the highest form of wit!"

 

Red snorted loudly and Blue heard the sound of a drawer opening and shutting. "The highest form of wit? Really? You must be the highest form of whatever the hell you are if you really think that's true."

 

Blue heard Sans cross the room and open another drawer as he said "Okay, maybe not the absolute highest. I'm reserving that spot for 'your mom' jokes."

 

Red snorted again, and there was silence for a while, accompanied by some shuffling. Blue cracked the door open and looked towards the dresser at them. Red was watching amusedly as Sans attempted to stuff a large amount of socks into too small of a drawer.

 

"I'm pretty sure that's not going to fit, moron," Red chuckled.

 

Blue sighed and opened the door, crossing the room quietly to help Sans. As he walked, Sans's head raised slowly and he grinned at Red, socks still in his hands.

 

Red's eyes got wide, and he started grinning, despite the fact that he seemed to be trying to hide it. "Don't you fuckin' dare, Sans."

 

Sans kept grinning as he said "Thaaaat's what she--"

 

He was cut off by Blue taking the socks out of his hands and opening the drawer they actually belonged in. When Blue looked back up, he was surprised to see a cyan blush lighting up Sans's face. Blue gave him a questioning sort of look, and Sans just blushed harder and snuck a look at Red, who seemed very amused.

 

"What were you saying, Sans?" Blue asked innocently.

 

"Yeah, Sans, what were you going to say? Feel free to explain the context. Or I can, if you'd rather we went with that," Red said, no small amount of smug amusement in his tone. Blue looked between them, false confusion in his expression.

 

"I...uh...I was just...talkin' to Red...'bout some stuff..." Sans mumbled, trailing off into incoherency and shoving his now-empty hands into his sweatshirt pockets.

 

Blue smiled sweetly, inwardly amused by the whole situation. How innocent did they think he was? "Oh! Were you two telling lame jokes again?"

 

Sans started sputtering indignantly as Red snorted with repressed laughter. "They are not lame! It's a classic!"

 

Red grinned smugly as he said, "That doesn't mean it's not lame..."

 

"Yeah, well, your mom is lame."

 

"... Dude."

 

"What? I told you before--"

 

Blue tuned them out with a shake of his head and set about checking that they'd actually put the clothes away on the right places. They seemed to have been fine for the most part, except that Sans seemed to have been shoving some of Red’s socks into Blue’s pants drawer. Blue sighed and began tossing them back into the basket to be relocated to the proper dresser when he heard his name and turned to them. "Hm?" he asked, not having heard any of the context.

 

"--Blue said he doesn't want those jokes in the house, Red."

 

"Well then how about I drop-kick you out the window since you were the one tellin' em?"

 

It seemed to be light-hearted banter, but it still seemed like the kind of thing that could evolve into a pun war unless someone put a stop to it, and those didn’t tend to end until Blue managed to lock one of them in the basement. Blue stood up. "Guys--"

 

"I would absolutely  _ love  _ to see you try to kick me out a window. I'm Classic Sans, bitch!"

 

"Have you fuckin'  _ seen  _ UnderFell--"

 

"Sans! Red! Language!" Blue shouted, finally catching their attention. He put his hands on his hips and gave them reprimanding looks.

 

They shuffled their feet contritely and gave each other sidelong glances.

 

Red finally spoke up "Sorry, Blue, Sans was just--"

 

"Doing nothing at all." Sans interrupted, flipping Red off when he thought Blue wasn't paying attention. 

 

Blue sighed. Honestly, you’d think he was supposed to be their parent. "Sans, come on. Don’t be rude.” Sans didn't look particularly sorry, but Blue let it pass. He opened his mouth, about to tell them that they needed to take their laundry into their own rooms when Red piped up.

 

"It's alright, Sans. Blue can handle an awful lot." There was something in his voice that made Blue think he was up to something, and it only took him a moment before he figured out what, trying to hold back a snicker.

 

Sans froze for a second before ever-so-slowly turning a glare on the larger of his boyfriends. The edge of Sans' mouth seemed to be twitching, as though he were repressing something.

 

"Red, I will end you."

 

"What? Is this too much for you to handle? Just say the word and I'll take it down a size."

 

Sans opened his mouth angrily, the look on his face the epitome of 'screw it', but he was cut off by a now openly grinning Blue.

 

"That's what she said!"

 

Sans and Red both turned to Blue in surprise, and he met their shocked looks with as saucy of a wink as he could muster, then stood and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder. "I'm going to go put the movie in! You guys should probably go put your laundry in your own dressers. Feel free to join me when you've put away the basket!"

 

~~~

 

Sans blinked awake to the glow of the TV and an empty lap. His tired brain didn't make the connection for why that seemed so strange until he went to rub his eye sockets and encountered a sticky note that had been stuck solidly to his forehead. He pulled it off blearily, having to read through it at least four times before the words meant anything to him.

 

_ You fell asleep and I was tired so I went to bed, I tried to carry you upstairs but I couldn't. If you wake up, come upstairs! I love you! _

 

He let out a long sigh, a soft smile lighting up his face as he pictured Blue trying to carry him upstairs, then he stood and stretched, his spine popping. He decided against taking a shortcut directly upstairs, in fear of waking the others, electing instead to make the harrowing journey up the stairs and down the hall. When he reached their bedroom door, he turned the handle slowly and eased it open, smiling wider at the sight that greeted him.

 

Red and Blue were sound asleep, Red snoring softly. Blue was tucked into Red's chest, and Red had his arms wrapped tightly around the other, holding him as though he was something infinitely precious. Well, for once, it seemed that Red was right.

 

Sans crossed the room silently, and when he reached the bed, he planted a kiss on Blue's temple before going to the other side and crawling into the bed next to Red. He took his hoodie off and threw it in the general direction of the laundry basket before laying down and wrapping an arm around the both of them, curling into Red's side.

 

Red's breathing changed and his body shifted, turning more towards Sans and clunking their heads together accidentally. Sans, trying to quiet his giggles, rubbed at his head where it'd been knocked against Red's. Then he sighed contentedly and relaxed, letting his eyes fall shut and his mind wander as he slowly fell asleep.


	4. Birthday

Red’s birthday had never really been something to celebrate. In a world where the air was sometimes so thick with dust you would choke on it, parties were an idea only considered by the king and those with a death wish. It came every year, like most birthdays tend to, but he did his best to ignore it. He would have preferred they forget the day altogether, but Fell had always done something to celebrate the occasion. He’d always said that he was celebrating one year closer to Red’s death, to which Red responded that all he’d have to do to speed that up was give him back the cigarettes he’d confiscated.

 

Birthdays weren’t quite  _ that _ important to the Great and Terrible Papyrus. 

 

All this aside, it wasn’t really much of a surprise that on his first birthday that wasn’t spent living with his brother, he forgot about the day altogether. 

 

It started off like any other. He woke up with Sans half wrapped around him, one hand having managed to shove itself between Red’s radius and ulna, with the sounds of Blue making breakfast echoing in through the open door. He took a deep breath in, trying to identify what it was that Blue was making. There was...bacon? Was that bacon? He had no idea, but the late night they had spent watching Chopped made him sniff the air again, grinning to himself as he BS’d his way through a dish description. 

 

_ Ah, yes, here we have the deliciously greasy meat strips with the scrambled birth sacs of the unborn… _

 

He snickered to himself, hoping that it really was bacon and eggs so that he could irritate Blue by calling it that when he got downstairs.

Reaching down, he carefully detached Sans’ hand from his arm, rolling back over to wrap him up in his arms and tug him close. After a moment of contemplation, he shifted, moving himself down so that it was his head tucked into Sans’ chest. Breathing in deeply again, he grinned to himself, feeling Sans’ arms wrapping around him subconsciously. Fuck, he had no idea how a guy who always seemed to have ketchup stains on his jacket smelled so goddamn  _ good _ . Maybe it was a Sans thing. He’d have to ask Blue if he could smell him, too, to confirm the theory. Right after he made that joke from earlier. He snickered to himself again. Why the fuck did Blue put up with his shit anymore?

 

He let his eyes drift shut, on the verge of falling back to sleep.

 

Of course, sleep could never last with the Sansational Blue anywhere in the vicinity. Red was jerked out of the beginnings of a pretty good dream when something landed on him quite suddenly, almost knocking the breath out of him. Sans woke at the same time, swearing under his breath and his eye lighting up for a split second before he realized what was happening.

 

Red opened his eyes as slowly as he could, turning to face their attacker with a look on his face that would have made any lesser monster turn tail and run, but just made the skeleton on top of them chuckle and peck a kiss onto his forehead.

 

Blue cuddled down into them, covering them both in kisses and only responding to their tired groans with exclamations about the magnificent breakfast that awaited them downstairs and how they needed to get up and greet the day.

 

Sans rolled over, curling up just enough so that he could bury his head into Red's chest and mumble something that neither of them could understand, but Red knew was probably not complimentary. Then he gently pushed Blue off and sat up, accepting the inevitable. Blue tried to sit up too, but Red pulled him back down and planted a solid kiss on his mouth before flicking him on the forehead, murmuring, "What did we agree about the whole 'jumping on us while we're sleeping' thing?".

 

Blue grinned, completely unabashed. "To not to. But you won't wake up otherwise, and besides, I love surprise cuddles! And you know that you do too!"

 

Sans made a vaguely sarcastic noise from the direction of the closet, and Red agreed with him. But he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, even as he said, "Still, Blue, it does kinda hurt."

 

Blue rolled over, clapping a hand to the place where his soul was hidden under his shirt. “I’ll tell you what hurts, Red--”

 

“Your face?” Red responded as he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and turning back to wink at the other. Blue had a hilariously confused look on his face, stopped in the middle of his dramatic speech as he was, and Red just snickered as he stood, crossing the room to the closet and peeking around the edge of the door.

 

“We have the same face!” Blue called after him, and Red snickered again, drawing Sans’ attention. 

 

The other had stripped off his shirt, ready to change into something fresh for the day. It’d become a habit for both of them to improve their hygiene since Blue had threatened never to touch them again if they didn’t, and Red had to say, he was certainly okay with Sans having to change his clothes every single day. 

 

In response to the lecherous grin he was receiving from his boyfriend, Sans winked saucily, picking up the shirt he was planning to wear and swinging it on one finger. “Well _ hello  _ there, sailor!”

 

Red gave a snort, reaching past the other to dig around in his own dresser, coming up with a red sweatshirt and one of the six pairs of black-and-yellow basketball shorts he owned. “Well that is just inappropriate!” he exclaimed in a passable imitation of Blue’s voice, echoing an oft-repeated phrase that always served to irritate both of them. 

 

Sure enough, Blue let out a muffled groan, and Sans did his best to maintain a serious face, holding in his laughter. Chuckling, Red left the closet, flopping down to sit on the edge of the bed and groaning loudly. “I don’t fucking  _ wanna _ get dressed, it’s too hard!” He flopped back on the bed, giving Blue a pleading glance and making grabby hands at him. “Blue, can you take my clothes off for me?”

 

Blue stood, very calmly, then seized a handful of the sheets, throwing them over Red’s face and topping it off with a pillow, which he chucked a little harder than was probably necessary. 

 

Sans burst into laughter, and Red heard him cross the room to Blue. Wriggling as best he could in his blanket cocoon, Red managed to work his boxers down over his hips, prompting Blue to throw more blankets at him. 

 

“Fuckin’ exhibitionist!” Sans called from somewhere near the door, and Red laughed loudly as he heard Blue reprimand him for the language. 

 

Quickly escaping his blanket prison, Red dressed quickly and headed downstairs, following the amazing smell of what he was now fairly certain was bacon into the kitchen. When he entered, Blue handed him his heaping plate with a smile that quickly turned into an eye-roll as Red made the joke he’d been planning since earlier that morning. 

 

“Red, please do not use the word ‘sacs’ to describe anything I’ve cooked, ever again.”

 

Sans, who had been staring into the distance at the table and probably tuning them out, looked up at that, looking confused. “Uh…”

 

“Don’t ask,” Blue quickly responded, taking a seat at the table and ignoring Red’s laughter. 

 

They ate quietly for a few minutes, and then Blue broke the silence with an exclaimed "Oh! Hang on, I need to ask you guys something!" Then he stood up quickly and disappeared from the room.

Red looked at Sans, but he just shrugged, and then Blue was back. He had the wall calendar with him, which meant he was going to do some scheduling.

 

Oh, joy.  _ Scheduling. _

 

Blue was, if nothing else, a monster of routine. He planned out every event in advance, carefully copying down the details onto the much-mocked calendar that hung by the front door, and if something was not written on the calendar, Blue would  _ not _ be present. Both Red and Sans were used to their own brothers being a bit...focused on their planning, but neither of them had been anywhere near prepared for the pure excitement and joy that was Blue’s  _ scheduling _ .

 

He sat in front of them, setting down the calendar and taking out a pen from who knows where, carefully crossing out Friday so that the calendar was up to date. Then he turned his attention to the next Monday and said, “I know that both of you forget to ever write anything on the calendar, but do you know of anything that you’re supposed to be doing on Monday night?”

 

"Nope." said Sans, his voice full of sarcastic enthusiasm, at the same time that Red mumbled around a mouthful of eggs, "I don't really do anything, ever, so..."

 

"Great!" Blue exclaimed. "Then you'd both be available to go visit Papy and Fell? They've invited us over for dinner that night."

 

"Only if the great calendar demands it of us."

 

"We are yours to command, O merciful calendar."

 

Blue studiously ignored them and wrote down the details for the dinner, and Sans and Red traded snarky grins.

 

Red's gaze drifted down to the  _ all-powerful  _ calendar, and his eyes caught on today’s date. Wait...

He swallowed what was in his mouth, then leaned forward, getting a better look in case he was just reading it wrong. “Oh.” he said aloud as his observation was confirmed.

 

Blue glanced up at him from his writing, one brow raised. “If you’re about to make another joke about the calendar, you can go upstairs and--”

 

“No…” Red said, waving him off before he stuffed another bite in his mouth. “No, it’s just that I’m getting older. It’s fuckin’ weird.”

 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Blue said, wrinkling his nose, but Sans’ eyes were narrowed, watching Red. 

 

“What do you mean, you’re ‘getting older’?”

 

Red shrugged, swallowing again before replying, “I’m 27 now. It just feels weird is all.” Stuffing his last bite into his mouth, he stood and carried his plate to the sink. He would never in a million years admit it to Fell, but now that he was being forced to do his own dishes right when he was done with them, he was starting to enjoy having a clean kitchen--

 

“Wait, what?”

 

Red glanced over his shoulder as he turned on the water, frowning at the confusion in Sans’ voice. “I said, I’m--”

 

Sans shook his head, looking slightly frustrated with how dense Red was being. “I thought you were 26. What do you mean, you’re 27 ‘now’?”

 

“Oh!” Red said, understanding lighting up his eyelights as he rinsed his dish, turning to put it into the dishwasher as he said, “It’s my birthday today.”

 

“RED!?”

 

Jumping violently, Red shot Blue an accusing glance. “Holy hell, sweetheart, are you trying to break the eardrums I don’t even have?”

 

Blue jumped up from his seat, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at him. “Why didn’t you tell us your birthday was coming up?!” He paused, then dropped his hands from his hips, his entire posture shifting into dejected disappointment. “Why didn’t I figure out your birthday was coming up?”

 

“...Well, I mean, I forgot that my own birthday was today until I saw the date, so…”

 

“That’s no excuse!” Blue exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. “I’m your boyfriend, I should have known!”

 

“What about me, Blue? I didn’t know either.” Sans chimed in, looking guilty but obviously trying to assuage some of Blue’s guilt. 

 

Blue just waved a hand dismissively at him. “You’re not the organized one, you don’t have to feel as bad.”

 

Snorting with laughter, Red shook his head at the conversation, turning to close the dishwasher before returning his attention to the other two, who were now regarding him with matching expressions of deep thought. Sometimes he forgot that they were all the same person, but it was moments like this that it became very obvious. The only difference between their faces were the slightly dimmed cyan of Blue’s eyelights, and Red found himself grinning between them, a poorly-timed joke about twins on the tip of his unsummoned tongue. 

 

“So how are we celebrating, Red?” Sans asked, standing with his own empty plate and crossing the room to stand next to Red at the sink. 

 

Red furrowed his brow, letting himself be pushed lightly out of the way. “Well, I mean, that dinner with the Boss on Monday is probably--”

 

“No, with  _ us _ , dumbass.”

 

“Sans! Don’t be rude, it’s his birthday!”

 

There was a pause, then, “Does that mean I can call him a dumbass when it’s not his--”

 

“Sans!”

 

“Is that something that you normally do?” Red asked, interrupting Blue’s lecture. He could feel his face getting warm, embarrassed as he always was by his lack of understanding of a culture that wasn’t...murder.

 

Sans’ face cleared, his smirk replaced by an understanding sort of pity that kind of made Red want to smack him, despite knowing that he had the best of intentions. Blue looked confused for a moment, then he realized, his brows coming together sadly before he stood up, joining them by the sink and setting his plate inside before turning to face Red. “Yeah, it’s pretty normal for there to be a...date, or some sort of special thing for people that are in a relationship.” He smiled widely, grabbing Red’s hand and planting a kiss on his knuckles before dancing away, saying, “It’s so that we can celebrate with you, and make you feel special!”

 

At the kiss to his hand, Red growled playfully, making a grab for Blue and managing to bump into Sans hard enough to knock the plate out of his hands as the smaller skeleton evaded the weak attack. Sans gave Red a look, but he just smirked back, leaning back against the counter and folding his arms before what Blue had said clicked, and he snorted. “Why do I need to feel special? It’s just a birthday.”

 

“Well there’s your answer,” Sans said, picking the dish back up and putting it in the dishwasher before turning around, leaning back against the counter’s edge and grinning at Red. “It’s the anniversary of the day you were brought into the world. I never would know so many dark jokes if that hadn’t happened.” Pushing up off the counter, he crossed the room, pushing in his chair before pausing. Then, throwing it over his shoulder like it was an offhand thought, he said, “Oh, and that whole thing where you are one of the three most important people in my life, and we both love you and would like to celebrate the fact that you exist.”

 

Sans turned back to the chair, putting all of his attention to making sure that it was pushed in perfectly. Red could feel a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth, and he glanced over at Blue, who was looking between them with heart-shaped eyelights. They made eye contact, and Red couldn’t help but smile at the expression on the other’s face. 

 

“Red,” said Blue, drawing Sans’ attention away from the already perfected chair. Red just grinned uncertainly, unsure how to respond to what they were saying. This was such a….strange concept, honestly. The fact that the day he was born was something to be  _ celebrated _ …

 

“I love you,” came Blue’s voice, his normal exuberance calmed into something far more serious, but still filled with all the joy that he always seemed to have for every aspect of life. “More than I could ever tell you. And I know that Sans does too. Even if you don’t want...well, even if you feel as though you might not deserve it, or you don’t understand why we would even  _ want _ to celebrate your whole existence, can we still--”

 

He was cut off as Red crossed to him in two steps, scooping him up into his arms and hugging him tightly. After a moment, he let go with one arm just long enough to gesture for Sans to join the hug, pulling him in close as soon as he was within reach. 

 

“I fucking love you two so goddamn much,” he murmured into the side of Sans’ skull, tightening his grip around Blue’s waist. 

  
There was a split second of pure, peaceful silence. 

 

“Red since it’s your birthday, I won’t make you put a dollar in the swear jar.”

 

Grinning, he pulled back, looking down at Blue roguishly. “Damn...I think I might like this whole birthday thing!”


	5. Jump Scare

Sans was stuck. 

 

He’d like to claim that he didn’t know how he got into this situation, but it was really because he was a complete dumbass. Completely aware of the fact that, for some reason, the basement of UnderSwap locked both ways, Sans had still, for some reason, gone in without a key, and,  _ for some reason _ , without telling anyone where he was going. 

 

He had locked himself into the only place in the entire underground that he couldn’t just shortcut out of, and now he had two choices: stay down here until he dusted, or bite the proverbial bullet and call Red to come bail him out. 

 

_ Welp. Looks like we’re starving to death, then. What a way to go.  _

 

He sighed loudly, sinking down to sit on the top step as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Red was going to be a real asshole about this, he just knew it. 

 

Accepting the inevitable, he entered Red’s name, putting the phone to the side of his skull as it rang. 

 

“Hullo?”

 

Red’s voice was scratchy, as though he’d just woken up.

 

_ Has he fallen asleep on the couch again? What a nerd, I would never fall asleep on the couch in the middle of the day. _

 

Snickering to himself at his private joke, Sans put on his biggest grin and straightening his spine, despite knowing that Red couldn’t actually see him. “Well hello there, handsome! How are you doing today?”

 

“...What’s going on?”

 

“Have I ever mentioned how much I love you? Because I just...it’s a lot, man. I love you a lot.”

Red sighed, and Sans imagined to himself that it was a happy sigh. Who  _ wouldn’t _ want to get a call like this in the middle of a nap? He was just the best boyfriend ever. “What do you want, Sans?”

 

“Aw, c’mon, can’t a guy just tell his--”

 

“Sans, so help me, I will hide every single one of your socks.”

 

_ This dick… _

 

“I’m stuck in the basement, I don’t suppose you want to come let me out?”

 

Red snorted loudly, then said, “Why would I do that? I was having a really great dream where you were locked in a basement and I didn’t have to see your face ever again.”

 

“Oh, man, fatal hit, .9999999, you’ve killed me.”

 

Red burst out laughing, and Sans grinned as he heard Red trying to muffle himself. He was pretty sure he would never get tired of hearing Red laugh. God, he hoped he never got tired of it.

 

Red cleared his throat loudly as he regained control of himself, and when he spoke, his voice was even gruffer than usual, as though he was trying to cover for his lapse of grumpiness. 

 

“How the hell did you even manage to lock yourself in the basement? Don’t you have a key?”

 

Sans rolled his eyes, then shot to his feet, letting his voice rise in excitement and sarcasm in equal measure as he said, “Thank you so much, I completely forgot that I can just  _ unlock the door! _ It’s a miracle, you’ve saved me!”

 

_ Click _ .

 

Sans burst into laughter as he realized that Red had just hung up on him. 

 

Unworried about his possible impending starvation, Sans leaned back against the locked door, waiting for the telltale crackle of magic that meant his knight in leather jacket had arrived. 

 

Sure enough, less than a minute went by before Red’s voice was ringing through the closed door. 

 

"Heya, Sansy. You in there?"

 

“Sansy’s not home, leave a message after the beep!”

 

“I don’t think that’s how doorbells work,” Red intoned as he pulled out his key, making Sans laugh. He backed away from the door as he heard the lock rattling, then the door flew open, revealing the grinning face of his savior. 

 

“My hero!” Sans exclaimed, but Red just rolled his eyes. He was still grinning, however, and Sans couldn’t help but return the expression. Then he leaned to one side, sticking out his hip and propping his head in one hand with his elbow against the door. “How could I  _ ever  _ repay you?”

 

Red just looked at him for a long moment, then gave a long-suffering sigh. “You can let me lock you back in the--”

 

“Boo!”

 

Sans jumped as a small pair of arms appeared to accompany the sudden voice, wrapping around Red’s waist from behind. He started to chuckle, leaning part of the way to be able to see Blue before he saw the look on Red’s face. 

 

“Blue--” he tried, but the smaller skeleton was already talking again, his skull appearing around the edge of Red’s shoulder as he smiled. 

 

“Did I get him?!”

 

Red's eyelights had disappeared completely, and his jaw had clenched, along with his hands. He looked completely frozen except for the panicked magic that was escaping from his soul through the collar of his shirt.

 

Sans raised his arms in a show of peace, recognizing the signs of one of Red’s episodes. It was easy to bring him down, usually all he needed was to be shown that he wasn’t in any danger and he would--

 

“I got Alphys earlier today, too!” Blue said happily, his arms tightening as he tucked his face into Red’s scapula. “And Papy was always a lot of fun to scare, he would--”

 

“Blue,  _ shut up _ !” Sans growled, keeping his attention firmly on Red. If he was careful, he could get him calmed, but with Blue holding onto him like that, he  _ had _ to feel trapped, and they would be lucky if he didn’t devolve into a full-blown panic attack.

 

Blue looked shocked for a moment, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open before he snapped it closed. He looked like he might be about to cry as he let go of Red and took a few steps back, unsure what to say. Sans had never come  _ close _ to speaking to him like that before, but he couldn’t bring himself to worry about Blue’s feelings. He breathed a sigh of relief as Red seemed to relax, his breathing starting to slow and the minute shaking in his hands calming. 

After a moment, Sans stepped forward, reaching slowly for Red’s hands so that he would have time to snatch them away if he needed to. He didn’t move, eyelights beginning to clear as Sans carefully took hold of him, rubbing his thumbs calmingly over the phalanges. 

 

There was the sound of a slamming door, and Sans glanced over at the place where Blue had been a moment before. Then Red breathed in, hard, signalling his return to reality, and Sans shifted his focus back to where it needed to be right then. He would apologize to Blue later. He’d understand.

 

\---

 

Blue had his knees tucked tightly under his chin, listening carefully for any sign of the other two. He wiped away another stray tear, silently berating himself for being such a crybaby. He knew Sans hadn't meant it, that there had been something going on with Red, but it still  _ hurt _ , and that combined with his own worry and confusion was effectively overwhelming him. 

 

Had it been his fault? Was that all it had taken this time? How could he be so  _ stupid _ ? He should have known better than to sneak up on him, he should have known that Sans was just worried about Red, he shouldn’t have stomped off like a rebellious teenager, he should have figured out the problem and tried to help! What if Red attacked Sans? From what he'd told them, he didn't always know who was around him when he was in a full-blown panic attack, when he made it that far, he couldn’t fully control himself. He'd had to kill to survive in his world, what if he--

 

Blue cut himself off of that train of thought, letting out a muffled sob. Sans knew what he was doing, and all Blue could do now was to trust that he’d be fine. Sans had been dealing with his own panic attacks for a long time, he knew what to say to bring Red back if he’d tipped over the edge, he'd be okay, he'd be okay,  _ he'd be okay _ .

 

There was a crack from the direction of their bedroom that signified a shortcut had been taken, and Blue couldn't help the strangled gasp of relief that escaped him as he jumped off the couch and practically ran to the stairwell. He'd gone up three steps before he realized that even if Red was back, they still might not...want him. 

 

He came to an abrupt stop, caught in indecision as he listened to the sounds of their voices, muffled through the closed door. He stepped backwards down the stairs until he was on the ground floor, wringing his hands nervously and trying to decide what to do.

 

The choice was taken out of his hands as a moment later, the door opened and Sans eased through, shutting the door carefully before turning around and catching sight of Blue, who promptly burst into tears.

 

"Shit--" he heard Sans mumble, but he was crying too hard to say anything about the curse, not that he would have anyway. He...he wasn’t  _ completely _ ... he cried harder, covering his face with his hands as he turned away, trying to hide his face. This wasn’t about him, why was he being such a baby? A moment later, arms went around him and he heard Sans' voice saying, "It's okay, Blue, he's fine. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

 

Blue thought about fighting against the hug for a split second before he melted into the hug, crying into Sans’ shirt and trying to calm himself down. This  _ wasn’t about him _ , why couldn’t he control himself?!

 

"I'm s-so s-sorry!" he sobbed out, gripping onto Sans as though he were the last lifeline.

 

"Shh, it's okay, you didn't know, it's okay..."

 

Sans kept up his steady stream of reassurances, rubbing Blue’s back and pushing off his own tiredness. He could sleep later. They were more important.

 


	6. Sick and Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll add a chapter every day," she said
> 
>  
> 
> lol

Sans rolled over sleepily, blinking his eyes open. He winced at the bright light that immediately flooded his eye sockets, rubbing at them with one hand as he sat up.

 

He was alone in the room, but he could hear the sounds of Blue and Red talking and laughing downstairs and...music?

 

He got out of bed, dressing slowly before opening the bedroom door. He walked across the landing, peering over the balcony at his partners.

 

Red was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, elbows on his knees and hands supporting his chin. He was grinning unabashedly at Blue, who was in the center of the room, swaying and bouncing his arms along to the beat. It almost reminded Sans of dancing, except someone crappier. Not that he would ever in a million years tell Blue that.

 

"I think you need to move your feet a little more." Red commented, and Blue, of course, immediately balanced on one foot and raised the other one to kick at Red. It was a light enough kick that it never would have done damage if it connected, but it still came with enough momentum for Red to take advantage of it. He caught Blue's foot anyway, giving it a slight tug and causing the smaller skeleton to fall to the floor with a yelp.

 

"Red!" Blue protested, but he was laughing. Sans grinned, leaning further over the banister to watch them better. As far as he was concerned, there was no better wake-up entertainment than this.

 

As Blue tried to sit up, Red uncurled his legs and leaned forward, grabbing his counterpart and pulling him up and into his lap. Blue was still laughing, pushing away Red's face as he tried to kiss him, protesting that he was supposed to be training.

 

"Aw, come on, we all know this isn’t training. You’re just showing off." Red chuckled, still trying to pull his face closer.

 

"Hey, I vote he keeps showing off, I was enjoying the view!" called Sans from his place upstairs. He grinned wider when they both looked up at him, a blush blooming across Red's face. 

 

Blue got up, smacking Red lightly on the way, and ran up the stairs to him. "Sans! Come dance with me!" he said, holding his hand out to the other and bouncing excitedly. “Red just keeps saying his legs are broken, like a butthead.”

 

Sans heaved an exaggerated sigh, then gave Blue his hands like it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. Blue snorted, rolling his eyes jokingly, and dragged him down the stairs. When they arrived, Red was back in his earlier cross-legged position, staring at the both of them like a lovesick schoolgirl.

 

Sans had only a moment to snicker at the image that thought produced before Blue had whirled him around and was gripping onto his waist and one of his hands. "Put your other hand on my shoulder!" Blue exclaimed, getting enthusiastically into it, as he did with most things.

 

Sans smiled at him and obeyed, settling his hand very softly on the place where Blue's humerus met his clavicle. Blue tugged on him and he automatically took a step forward. Blue stepped back, seeming excited. "Great job, Sans! Just follow my lead!"

 

Blue pushed them to step back and forth, meeting the beat of the song, then very suddenly, he lifted the arm that held Sans' hand into the air and used the other to push him into a spin, giggling as he caught him when he came back around. Sans could hear Red snickering from the couch, and he flipped him off behind his back where Blue couldn’t see.

 

"That's my favorite thing to do!" Blue exclaimed, then he did it again, nearly jumping into the air with excitement.

 

Sans couldn't help the breathless laughter that escaped him as he almost stumbled, Blue barely catching him in time. Blue tried to tug him to step forward again, but Sans let go of his shoulder in favor of cupping Blue’s jaw, pulling him into a kiss. When they parted, Sans winked at him. "Well, that's mine." he said, as flirtatiously as he could manage through his laughter.

 

Blue huffed, but Sans could see the smile in his eyes. "You are insufferable." he said, dropping Sans's hands and mock-glaring at him before being interrupted by a wolf-whistle from Red. Confused, they both turned to look at him, and he grinned. 

 

“You guys should totally kiss again.”

 

Blue threw his arms in the air, turning away as he exclaimed, “You’re  _ both _ insufferable!” Shaking his head, he got back into the song, his back to them as he tried to match the movement of his hips to the beat.

 

Sans took a moment to appreciate the sight before he plopped down on the couch next to Red, who moved his arms, throwing one over Sans’ shoulders. After a moment or two, Sans laid down and put his head in Red’s lap, letting his eyes hood as he watched Blue's swaying.

 

"Sleep well?" Red asked quietly, smoothing one hand over the side of Sans’ head.

 

"Yeah. I feel a lot better now. I don't know what it is, I've just felt really worn out lately."

 

"Why? You don't do anything."

 

"I do more than you!"

 

Red snorted, moving his hand to rub at Sans's back as they continued watching Blue’s dancing. "How do you figure that?"

 

Sans grinned, looking up at him out of the corner of his eye. "I sleep on the far side of the bed from the door. That's like an extra six steps!"

 

Red let out a bark of laughter, apparently caught off-guard by that answer.

 

Blue turned back to look at them questioningly, but Red waved him back to what he was doing.

"You're such an ass." Red said under his breath, and Sans immediately raised his hand into the air, smirking. Red grabbed onto it and pulled it back down, gripping tightly. "Hey, no tattling. I can't afford to put any more money in the swear jar."

 

Sans chuckled and they stayed there for a second before Red's hold shifted and the restraint of his grip turned into something more like hand-holding. Sans shifted slightly so that he was looking up at Red. His darker counterpart was watching Blue happily, and Sans's soul warmed. He held tightly to Red's hand and closed his eyes, letting himself drift back off to sleep.

 

~~~

 

Red was humming again. He didn’t ever realize he was doing it, something that became very obvious from his reaction to it being pointed out. Blue smiled softly as he stirred the pot of soup on the stove.

 

“Do you think we should add some milk to that? To make it creamier and all that shi--stuff?”

 

Blue turned to see Red holding up a half-full carton. Lately, the edgier skeleton had taken to helping out in the kitchen, using the excuse that he wanted to spend time with Blue. At first, he’d believed it, but it was becoming obvious that he actually really enjoyed it. He was learning quickly, and he had actually made a few meals completely by himself at this point. That didn’t mean that he didn’t still have a lot to learn, but Blue was still very proud of him. It had taken a long time to get either of his partners to work up the motivation to do much of anything, but now that they were making the effort, he could just  _ see _ how much happier they both were.

 

In answer, Blue shook his head and said, “No, milk isn’t good for an upset stomach.” He stirred the soup some more, reaching up to turn down the heat just a bit.

 

Red frowned at him in confusion. “But we don’t even have stomachs. Isn’t milk supposed to be really good for skeletons or something?”

 

“Yes, in a normal situation. And it’s the taste, actually. You know Sans doesn’t like milk in the first place, there’s no reason to ruin his food with it.”

 

Red smirked and put the milk back in the fridge. “So you admit that milk ruins foods?”

 

Blue just rolled his eyes and focused back on the pot. “I think this is just about done. Can you grab me a bowl?”

 

A few minutes later, Blue was walking upstairs with Red close on his heels, a warm bowl of tomato soup held carefully in his hands. He grit his teeth in concentration, doing his best not to spill even a drop. When they reached the top of the stairs, Red ducked around him, quietly opening Sans’ bedroom door and holding it aside for Blue to come through.

 

Blue smiled his thanks to Red before calling out, “Sans, babe, I’m turning on the lights!” 

 

There was a loud groan from the direction of the bed as he did so; the blankets shifting so that Sans was completely buried beneath them. Blue grinned as Red shut the door behind them, and an arm poked out from the sheets to grab a pillow, chucking it in the general direction of the newcomers. 

 

“Hey, hey, watch out there, John Wayne, Blue’s got soup.”

 

“Soup?!” Sans’ head poked out from the top of the blankets, and Red immediately scooped the pillow up off of the floor, whipping it at the small amount of visible bone and causing Sans to yelp and duck back below the covers. “Stop tryna kill me, I’m  _ sick _ !” came a muffled voice.

 

“Sick of what, exactly?”

 

“Your dumb face, Red.”

 

“Be nice.” chided Blue, pulling up the chair they’d been keeping in the room for this very purpose. Red climbed into the bed, and after some prodding, he managed to convince Sans to sit up so that he could pull him into his lap. After some grumbling, the smaller relaxed back into him, pulling up the blankets so that he could snuggle into the warmth of both his partner and the covers. Blue couldn’t help his smile at the picture they made, wishing inwardly that he hadn’t left his phone downstairs. 

 

Scooping up a spoonful of soup, Blue held it towards Sans, giving him a warning glare as he tried to reach out and take it. 

 

“Sans, let us take care of you.”

 

Sans heaved a sigh, opening his mouth and allowing Blue to put the spoon inside. Red grinned at the resignation in his expression, wrapping his arms around the bottom of Sans’ ribcage and settling his chin on the other’s shoulder. Blue’s eyelights flashed into hearts for a split second as he watched them, ducking his head as he flushed brightly at what had just gone through his mind. He got another spoonful when Sans had finished the first, feeding him a little over half the bowl before he was waved off.

 

“I’m not feeling too great right now.” he mumbled, eyes hooding. “I think I’m done.” Red nodded, maneuvering them so that Sans was laying down again, still held tightly in the other’s arms. Blue carefully set the mostly-empty bowl on the bedside table before turning back to the others, kicking off his boots. As he lifted the covers to climb in beside them, Sans’ closed eyes cracked open, and he grimaced. “Please, no surprise cuddles, sweetheart. I’m really not feeling up to it.”

 

Blue chuckled as he curled up on the opposite side from Red, laying his head carefully on Sans’ chest and tangling their legs together. “How about some normal cuddles? I’ve been informed that I’m pretty good at those.”

 

Sans pretended to consider, turning his head so that his forehead was pressed against Blue’s. “I think I’ll need to check your references.”

 

Popping his head up from Sans’ other side, Red grinned and said, in his usual snarky tone, “You rang?”

 

 

Sans chuckled weakly before groaning again. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite so much like shit.”

 

“I don’t think you’ve ever looked quite so much like shit, either, Sansy.”

 

“Blue, can you smack him for me?”

 

Red laughed loudly as Blue lifted an arm to try and obey, missing by mere inches as Red launched himself backwards and away from his waving hand. Suddenly, Red’s eyes flew wide, and then he disappeared. For a moment, it almost seemed like he had teleported away.

 

Then, there was a prolonged wheezing sound that came up from beside the bed, just out of Blue’s sight. Frowning, Blue sat up and tried to look over, Sans using his shoulder as a brace to pull himself up too. “Red, are you okay?”

 

The wheezing continued, interspersed with the occasional snort. Blue and Sans exchanged confused glances, then, at the same time, it clicked.

 

Red was  _ laughing _ . 

 

Neither of them had ever heard Red laugh quite like this before, and it seemed to be doing Sans a world of good, his whole face lighting up as he realized what was happening.

 

“Should I help him?” Blue asked, his own smile crossing his face.

 

“Nah…” Sans replied, lowering himself back into the mattress and flinging one arm across his eyes. “Leave him to suffer.”

 

“I h-heard that!” Red coughed out, still caught up in his laughing fit. Blue grinned at their antics, about to lay back down until he took another look at Sans’ face, a wonderful idea occurring to him. He leaned forward carefully, planting a short kiss on the other’s teeth before pulling away and grinning down at him. 

 

Sans’s eyes flew open, meeting Blue’s now unabashedly heart-shaped ones. He seemed to fumble for words for a moment, and Blue kissed him again before laying down and cuddling back up to him.

 

“Blue, you’re gonna get sick doing that.” Sans finally said just as Red finally got ahold of himself and climbed back up.

 

“Doing what?” Red asked, pausing in the motions of pulling back the sheets.

 

“He’s kissing me, he’s gonna--”

 

“Hey!” Red protested, mock-glaring at Blue, who just grinned back impishly, his head tucked back into Sans’ chest. Red cocked one brow, then leaned over, gripping Sans’ chin and kissing him hard. Sans looked a bit breathless as Red pulled away, unsure how to respond to their affection.

 

“There. Balance had been restored.” he said, throwing himself back into the sheets and maneuvering his arm under Sans’ shoulder blades.

 

Sans huffed, but a dark blush was starting to bloom across his face. “You two are so--”

 

“Devastatingly handsome?” offered Blue, causing Red to break out into laughter again.

 

Sans grinned, shaking his head slightly, then leaned his head into Red’s neck and wrapped an arm around Blue, holding him almost too close. “I love you both so goddamn much...” he murmured, closing his eyes.


	7. The Grand Reveal

For a large portion of his life, Blue had loved to insist that every day was an opportunity for something good. There was no such thing as a bad day, only a day where things seemed to be going wrong for the moment. He had a firm belief that everything in the world could get better with a little time and effort, and refused to write any day off as a Bad Day.

 

Today, Blue was having a Bad Day.

 

To start everything off, his alarm hadn’t gone off, so he’d woken up late. Then, he’d found out that he’d forgotten to start the dryer the night before, so his clothes were still wet. Then, not only out of uniform for the day, he’d also gotten to work late. It was only once he was already at his sentry station that he realized that he’d never woken up Red and Sans, so they were late too. He’d called in and secured them both a sick day, of course, his impression of Red’s voice scratching at his voice like it always did, but he still couldn’t help but feel guilty. Then, to calm himself down a bit, he’d decided to run some patrols. Of  _ course _ , he’d managed to trip and fall into an ice-cold stream, soaking his clothes with freezing water. On his way back to his station from his impromptu bath, he’d tripped over no less than seven rocks, falling into the snow each time and making himself even wetter and colder. 

 

On the way home, he could feel his grumpiness rising steadily. Why did he have to be the only one not to get teleportation powers? Sans and Red just used theirs to skip having to climb the stairs, but here he was, having to tromp through even more snow and get even more cold.

He was pretty sure that if his partners has messed up the house  _ at all _ , he was going to take his bad mood out on them. He sighed. He really didn’t want to do that.

 

Finally, home was in sight, and he jogged up the front steps. He fumbled excitedly for his keys, looking forward to getting inside and warming up, and,  _ of course _ , dropped them off the side of the steps and into a snowbank. For a moment, he just stared at the little hole they had made, then growled in frustration, dropping to his knees and shoving his arm into the snow to retrieve his keys, re-soaking his sleeves in the process. 

 

“ _ Fuck  _ me _ … _ ” he whispered to himself, practically shoving the keys through the lock and letting himself inside as quickly as he could. 

 

No, he didn’t like swearing. Yeah, he had a swear jar for Sans and Red. No, he would not be donating. It was just that kind of day.

 

~~~

 

“Sans!”

 

Huffing slightly in response to the summons, Sans lowered the front of his shirt. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down a bit. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it what the fuck?

“Yeah?” he responded, trying not to let the panic in his mind seep into his voice.

 

“What the fuck is...cumin? Am I even sayin’ that right? C-U-M-I-N?”

 

He groaned aloud and turned around, unlocking the bathroom door and pushing it open slightly. “It’s like a spice I think! Check the  _ spice drawer? _ ” Wow. That was sarcastic. He tried to rein himself in a little bit.

 

There was a long pause, then Red yelled back, “Where the hell is the spice drawer?!”

 

Fuckin…

 

He stepped out of the bathroom, leaning over the railing to shout back, “Well how the hell am I supposed to know, just look in the--” He was cut off by the sight of Blue standing in the doorway, looking confused and with his clothes completely soaked. “Blue! You’re home!” he said, barely having to force a smile onto his face. It was a lot easier to be nice to someone you hadn’t been stuck inside with the whole day.

 

“Shit, Blue’s home?!” Red asked, and Sans rolled his eyes. No, no, Red. He’d just been welcoming the color blue into their house. It’s fine.

 

“Hi…” Blue said, and Red swore loudly as something crashed to the ground. Blue seemed to be considering if it was worth the stress to go see what he’d broken as Red yelled something that Sans didn’t even try to make out.

 

Sans descended the stairs carefully and crossed the room to Blue’s side, wrapping him up in a hug and burying his face in his collarbone.

 

“Don’t, don’t, I’m all wet, Sans,” he protested weakly, but he relaxed into him anyway, and Sans just let himself melt for a moment before stepping back and taking Blue’s hand in his own, gently starting to drag him up the stairs. 

 

“Blue, you must be freezing!”

 

~~~

 

“Sans, come on, let go of me,” Blue said, exasperated.

 

Sans just chuckled, tugging him up the stairs and to the bathroom, pushing the door open and practically shoving Blue through the door in front of him. Closing the door solidly behind them and still ignoring Blue’s protests, he turned to the tub, tossing aside the shower curtain and turning on the water before turning around and frowning. Blue was just standing there, staring at him with a soft smile, not entirely sure how he felt about  being manhandled, but appreciating the sentiment all the same. 

 

“Blue,” Sans said, putting his hands on his hips in a pose that was very unlike him. “Those clothes have got to be absolutely freezing.”

 

Blue glanced down at himself and his soaked pants and sleeves, then back up at Sans. “Yeah…?”

 

“Well? Take them off, I’ll go put them in the laundry!”

 

Blue huffed, putting his hands on his own hips before retorting, “Well, I can’t just  _ strip _ in front of you!”

 

“...Blue, it’s not like you’ve never stripped in front--”

 

“That was a totally different situation!” he protested, feeling his face heat up. 

 

Sans rolled his eyes, but he was laughing, and he shrugged as he walked to the door. “Seriously, sweetheart, it’s not like I haven’t seen it all before. Didn’t we have sex like two nights ago or something?”

 

“That’s not the point!”

 

“Alright, alright.” he grinned, opening the door and stepping through before pausing and shooting a wink over his shoulder. “As long as I get to cash in the stripping check later, I’m totally--”

 

Blue crossed the room and shut the door in his face, but he was smiling, entirely too used to these kinds of exchanges to be insulted by them. 

 

“I’ll take that as a yes!” Sans called through the door, and he snorted. “Toss your clothes out the door when you’re done with them!”

 

Blue peeled his soaked clothes from his freezing body, tossing them out the door (and hearing a somewhat satisfying "oomph!" as they hit Sans) before he settled into the bath. The warm water felt like heaven on his bones, and he could feel his frozen joints loosening up. He settled into the bubbles with a sigh, finally letting himself relax after his very Bad Day.

 

For once too lazy to even sit up, Blue popped one foot up out of the water, using it to turn off the water before sinking back into the suds. This must be that bubble bath Papyrus had sent Sans that smelled absolutely  _ heavenly _ . He took in a deep breath, letting himself bask in the peace and quiet before it was quite suddenly broken by a loud voice from downstairs. 

 

"You can't just rip the lettuce apart with your bare hands, Red, you have to, like, slice it or something."

 

"What if I've got a personal vendetta against the stuff and I wanna rip it apart with my bare hands?"

 

"Why do you have a personal vendetta against the lettuce?"

 

"I dunno, it's green, I don't like green things!"

 

"Unless it's mint chocolate chip nice-cream, right?"

 

"I'm sorry, do you want to cut the lettuce or do you wanna stick with burning the meat?"

 

"The meat is not burnt! It's supposed to look like that!"

 

"Sans, there are little black pieces in it!"

 

“How about you shut the fuck up and tear up your shitty lettuce?”

 

Blue snorted to himself, letting his head sink further into the water until he could no longer hear their voices. Peace and quiet might be a little harder to get than the bath.

 

\---

 

“How about you shut the fuck up and tear up your shitty lettuce?” Sans growled, turning off the stove and shoving the pan off the burner. He could feel the burn of tears in his eyes, and Red finally seemed to notice something was wrong, blinking and reaching out for him. Sans shrugged him off, stalking to the doorway and saying “Fuck yourself,” over his shoulder, causing Red to break out in surprised giggles. It was an oft-repeated joke in this household, but Sans still felt his soul lurch, that Red would  _ laugh _ at him right now.

 

He flipped him off, attempting to maintain some semblance of dignity, then promptly burst into tears, and Red’s eyes widened. “Uh...Sans, are you okay?” he asked quietly.

 

Sans glared at him for a moment before spinning around and stomping away, going up the stairs as quickly as he could and wiping angrily at his eyes before storming down the hallway to the bathroom door, then belatedly remembered that it was currently occupied.

 

Fuck it.

 

“Hey, Blue?” he asked.

 

There was a moment of silence, so he called him again, louder this time, and then his voice echoed through the door. “Yeah?” Sans was glad to hear that he sounded less tired, at least. By the looks of it, itd been a long day.

 

“Can I come in?” he asked, just loud enough for Blue to hear him.

 

“Sans! I'm still not dressed!”

 

Sans snorted, and he heard Blue huff loudly and dramatically. “Fine, just give me a sec. Count to 10 or something.”

 

Sans dutifully counted to about 9, then swung the door open and stepped through, just barely catching sight of the shower curtain swinging closed. He smiled for a moment, then shut and locked the door behind him and crossed the room, reaching into one of the drawers behind the sink and pulling out a bottle of Advil before staring at it regretfully and bursting into tears all over again. “Whoa! Sans!” He looked back to see Blue peeking around the shower curtain at him, looking worried. “Are you okay?”

 

Sans couldn't get himself to answer, instead sinking to the floor and burying his face in his hands after chucking the half-full bottle of medicine into the sink as hard as he could.

 

He heard Blue step out of the tub and wrap himself in a towel before crossing the room and kneeling in front of him. “Hey, Sans, if we’re out of Advil, we can always get some more, you don't have to--”

 

Sans shook his head violently, still beyond answering. Blue reached out for him, hesitating just before they came into contact. “Can I touch you?”

 

Sans nodded, and Blue wrapped him up in a hug. His bones were still warm from the water, and Sans pulled himself closer, seeking every scrap of comfort he could get. They just sat like that for a few minutes until Sans had managed to calm down, his sobs fading into quiet hiccups.

 

“Sans, what's going on?” Blue asked quietly, rubbing his back soothingly.

 

“Red’s an a-asshole,” Sans said sadly, and Blue looked down at him in surprise.

 

“Red did this to you?” Blue asked, sounding shocked. Red wasn’t usually  _ purposefully _ cruel..

.

Sans started to nod, then sighed and shook his head. “No, I-I guess not.” Then he burst into semi-hysterical laughter. “I mean, I guess he technically did, but it wasn't on purpose,”

 

Blue looked a little nervous about his emotional state, and Sans didn't miss the way he was looking into his eyelights as though searching for something. Sans reached up gently and took hold of Blue’s wrists, kissing his fingers before saying, “I am about the furthest thing from drunk right now, Blue.”

 

Blue still looked doubtful, and Sans sighed, trying to find the words to explain.

 

“I-I...I’m…”

 

Bue was watching him curiously, and it was all starting to feel like far too much again.

 

“I can't even take care of my f-fucking pet rock!” he finally wailed, burying his head back into Blue’s chest. Blue burst into startled giggles. “Honey, I feed the pet rock, it's okay. I don't think it's going to starve if that's what you're upset about!”

 

Blue’s attempt at humor fell flat as Sans continued to cry, and he sighed quietly.

 

“Sans, what's wrong?” he asked again.

 

His hands dropped to the hem of his shirt, hovering there for just a moment before he steeled his resolve, seizing it and lifting it far enough to expose the place where there should be nothing but empty spine. Instead, there was a summoned barrier of an ecto-stomach, glowing dimly in the soft light of the bathroom. 

 

Hovering inside, just below the base of Sans’ ribcage, was a floating inverted heart. 

 

A new soul.

 

Blue gasped, and Sans pulled away, letting his shirt drop and burying his face in his hands, preparing for the inevitable, for the disgust and disappointment that was sure to come. 

 

“Oh, Sans! Oh, this is wonderful! Is this why you were talking about your pet rock?”

 

Sans looked up in surprise at the happiness in Blue’s voice, and he nodded dumbly as he took in the sight of his partner, still wrapped in a towel, smiling from ear to ear, star-shaped eyelights practically shining with joy.

 

“Oh, Sans, it's okay! We’re all going to do it together, nobody has to be a perfect parent, we just have to be--!” His eyes grew impossibly brighter, and he clasped his hands in front of his chin. “Sans, I'm going to be a parent!”

 

His joy was infectious, and Sans found himself smiling along with him.

 

“Oh, Red is going to be so mad when he finds out you're the one carrying it, this is proof you have higher magic reserves than he does!”

 

Sans’ face fell when Red was mentioned, and Blue paused. “Was...Was Red not happy?” he asked, his expression shifting quickly into anger as he glanced back at the doorway. “Don't worry, Sans, I'll talk to--”

 

Sans reached out and grabbed his arms, bringing him up short. “I haven't told Red yet!” Blue stopped, looking down at him in confusion, and Sans sighed. “I only found out today and I was just...I was scared, and I-I didn't know how you guys would react, and I just… I wasn't even supposed to be in this relationship--”

 

Blue clapped a hand over his mouth, frowning at him. “Don't you ever say anything like that again, Sans. We both love you just as much as we love each other, and you know that very well!”

 

Sans’s eyes filled with tears, and he hung his head as Blue let him go. “I know. It's just hard to remember sometimes,” he whispered, not making eye contact.

 

Blue planted a soft kiss on his temple, then leaned back slightly. “You know we have to tell Red, right?”

 

Sans nodded, and Blue took that as a go-ahead and immediately stood and ripped the door open. “RED! GET UP HERE, QUICK! ITS SANS!” he yelled, then he turned back to where Sans was sitting.

 

“Was that really necessary?” he asked, grunting as Blue helped him stand up.

 

“It'll get him up here quicker, that's for sure!” the smaller chirped, wrapping the towel more snugly about himself and standing beside him.

 

Red appeared directly in front of the bathroom, magic flaring out of his eye. “Where’s the--” he was brought up short by the sight of them standing calmly in the bathroom, and he let his magic disperse, sighing. “Blue, you've gotta stop doing that.”

 

“I know! Sans is pregnant!”

 

“No, I don't think you understand, what if someday there's a real  _ wait what??? _ ”

 

Red looked completely shell-shocked, staring at each of them in turn before glancing down at where Sans’s soul lay hidden. Sans tried to contain the blush that lit up his face at the look on the other’s face. “I...You're what?”

 

Sans fidgeted for a moment, then lifted the front of the shirt again, showing off the tiny soulling.

Red’s eyes filled with tears when he saw it, and he immediately stepped forward and wrapped them both up into a hug, muffling himself on Sans’ shoulder.

 

Sans just stared at the display of emotion, not sure what to do. Blue was laughing happily, looking for all the world like this was the best day of his life, and Red was slowly trying to regain control of himself.

 

“Is…” Red sniffed slightly, loosening the hug slightly but not letting go of either of them. “Is this why you've been so pissy with me all day?”

 

Sans snorted and smacked him lightly on the side of the head. “Shut the fuck up.” he mumbled, and Red laughed tearily, grabbing him by the chin and planting a hard kiss on his mouth.

 

“Never.” he replied, giving them both one last hug before letting them go.

 

“Hey Red?” Blue started. Red looked over at him curiously. “Guess what this means?”

 

“I should probably stop wearing so much leather?”

 

“God, no,” said Sans as Blue opened his mouth to reply.

 

Red smirked at him as the other said, “He has higher magic reserves than you!”

 

Red froze, staring at Blue for a second before reaching out and grabbing them both by the hands, tugging them out the door to the sound of Blue's laughter. “Nope, I call bullshit, we’re trying this again!”


	8. Pregancy isn't supposed to be this fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> awwww

“Do I  _ have _ to go?”

 

Blue gave him a scandalized look, and Sans stifled a snicker, aware of how he looked at the moment. He had been laying on the couch watching TV while Red made him a mid-afternoon snack (who said being pregnant wasn’t fun sometimes?) when Blue had announced their impending departure, and he hadn’t bothered to actually turn around to talk to him. Instead, he pushed himself backwards, letting his head rest upside-down and his body arch halfway over the arm of the couch, his shirt riding up slightly and showing off the softly glowing ecto-form that he had to have summoned all the time now. Hey, there was nothing wrong with gathering a few pity points, was there?

 

Unfortunately, Blue was having none of it. He folded his arms, continuing to give him that look that normally brokered no argument. They stared each other down, Sans attempting to stifle the giggles that were threatening to make their way to the surface.

 

He heard Red come into the room before he came to an abrupt stop, probably looking between them and wondering what the fuck they were doing.

 

“Tell Sans he has to come to the party.”

 

Red sighed loudly, and Sans battled another round of hysteria.

 

“Sans, you have to come to the party.” Red’s voice couldn’t have been more monotone as he crossed the room to place the ketchup sandwich on Sans’ lap, his lack of interest in the argument very apparent. Sans felt his shirt being tugged down by careful fingers, and spared a smile at the other’s care, which Blue struggled not to return.

 

Sans picked up the sandwich blindly, trying to decide if it was worth it to keep eye contact and eat the sandwich upside down. “Tell Blue I’m pregnant and I don’t wanna.”

 

“He’s pregnant and he--”

 

“Red, please!” Blue said, snorting as he held out one hand in his direction. Red snickered and carefully pushed Sans’ legs out of the way before sitting down on the couch, picking up the remote and switching the channel. Blue sighed again and came closer to Sans, gently pushing him to sit up and eat before taking up the same stance in front of the couch where he could see him. “It’s your brother’s birthday party. You can’t just skip it.”

 

Sans swallowed his mouthful, glancing up and letting his eyelights blow out slightly and puffing out his cheeks to make himself look as cute as possible. Again, pity points. “But we’re gonna have dinner with him on his  _ actual _ birthday! This is just the dumb drinking party! I can’t even drink! He’ll understand!”

 

Blue raised a brow, then reached out and grabbed the plate out of Sans’ lap. He let out a yelp of surprise, making a grab for it and nearly falling off the couch before Red grabbed his arm and pulled him back on. “Careful, sweetheart, you don’t want to hurt yourself.”

 

Sans’ mouth opened and closed for a moment, then he frowned, folding his arms in a pout and glaring at Blue. “He stole my sandwich!”

 

“Yes, I did. You can have it back when you stand up and put your coat on. You too, Red, or I’m hiding your handcuffs.”

 

Grumbling, Red pushed himself to his feet, holding out a hand for Sans to take. He pouted for a moment longer, then took it, heaving himself up to stand like it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Blue grumbled for a moment at the display, muttering something about “only three months” before he followed them to the door, still holding the sandwich.  

 

Red held out Sans’ coat, and he shrugged it on before making grabby hands at Blue, who sighed and handed the sandwich over, immediately grabbing his hood to stop him from shortcutting back onto the couch with his prize. Red snickered, then took hold of both of their arms. “Ready?”

 

Blue nodded, and Red dragged them all into the void, popping out a moment later in the middle of Papyrus’ living room.

 

Still pouting, Sans stomped over to the nearest couch, plopping down and finishing his sandwich grumpily and completely ignoring everyone else in the room. Red snickered, and Blue shot him a look.

 

“Hello, brother.” Fell appeared next to them, holding out a drink towards Red. Before he could say or do anything, Blue grabbed it out of the larger’s hands, tipping it back and chugging the contents. He winced slightly at the burn, and Red started snickering harder at the expression on his brother’s face.

 

“Hard day at the office, there, Blue-boy?”

 

Blue stuck his tongue out at his partner before spotting his brother and walking away without a word. Fell looked at Red in confusion, furthering his amusement.

 

“Is everything alright at home?” Fell asked, looking concerned.

 

Red was quick to reassure him, telling him about the nuisance Sans had been making of himself and prompting his brother to snort loudly, drawing several looks. They all still found it strange how much happier the captain had become over the past few years. Even Red himself sometimes found himself in awe of the change. No matter how fucking annoying he may be, Stretch really was a miracle worker when it came to Fell.

 

Lust walked out of the kitchen, Papyrus trailing behind him with a look of confusion and amusement on his face, a look that was common among those who attempted conversation with either of those brothers. He made an immediate beeline for his brother, giving him a careful hug and murmuring something quietly. Sans swallowed his pout, as he always did for his brother, and chatted back with him. Lust, about to walk in a different direction, paused, watching the exchange.

 

Red frowned slightly at him, following his gaze. Sans was smiling happily at his brother, and his joints were flushing slightly with blue magic, as they’d been doing lately when he got tired or emotional. Red felt a flutter of concern cross his soul, wondering what was wrong, and Sans seemed to feel something of it from his magic, glancing up and giving him a reassuring smile. Red returned it, about to return to his conversation with his brother when he noticed the look on Lust’s face.

 

Picking up a drink, Lust called to Sans, “Hey, heads up!” before tossing it in his direction. Sans reacted quickly, catching it without a second thought before he seemed to realize what it was and his eyes widened slightly. 

 

They’d agreed that they were going to keep this a secret from anyone but their brothers, just in case something went wrong. Blue had rightly said that it would be unthinkable to have to tell everyone all over again if the worst happened. 

 

But now Sans had a drink in his hand, and Lust’s loud-ass voice had caught the attention of a large portion of the party.

 

Sans coughed uncomfortably, passing the bottle from hand to hand for a moment before opening his mouth, probably to give some lame excuse about not being thirsty in a way that, being the awful liar that he was, would make everyone immediately suspicious. Before he could say anything, however, Blue appeared again, snatching the bottle out of his hands and continuing on as though nothing had happened, cracking it open as he went and ignoring the very amused looks both of his partners were giving him.

 

Lust folded his arms loosely, giving them all a knowing look. Red flipped him off subtly, and he heard Sans snort before turning back to his brother, returning to the conversation. Red excused himself to his own sibling and crossed the room, coming up beside Lust and touching him lightly on the shoulder to draw his attention away from Sans.

 

“We shoulda known you and your bro would be able to figure it out.”

 

Lust jumped slightly, glancing back at him for a split second before he looked back at Sans, suppressing a grin. “Honestly, it was only a matter of time. You three are so closely bonded that it’s almost sickening.”

 

Red followed his gaze just in time to see Papyrus stand up, bidding his brother goodbye and going to greet some newcomers. Blue almost immediately sat in Papyrus’ vacated seat, throwing his arm over Sans’ shoulders and pulling him in close. He said something quietly that made Sans laugh and relax back into him, the sandwich incident apparently forgotten. Blue planted a kiss on top of the other’s head and closed his eyes, his soul glowing brightly enough that Red could just barely see it through his shirt.

 

Red felt a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth as he watched them, aware of Lust grinning at him out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah, I suppose we’re pretty close, aren’t we? Still, never thought something like this would ever happen to someone like me.”

 

Lust clapped him on the shoulder, beginning to walk away before Red stopped him. “Hey, don’t be spreadin’ this around town, alright? We’re keeping it secret for a bit, in case somethin’...y’know.”

Lust’s face darkened for a split second, brightening back into a knowing smile quickly enough that Red wasn’t sure he’d seen anything else at all.

 

“Of course. Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

~~~

 

The stairs creaked loudly, and Sans froze, staring wide-eyed behind him as he tried to see if anyone had heard. No one came, and he breathed a sigh of relief, continuing his tip-toeing path down the stairs and into the kitchen. 

 

Not bothering to turn on a light, he snuck over to the fridge, pulling out one of the many containers of leftover taco meat and an overly-familiar yellow bottle. Sneaking back across the kitchen, he quietly opened the microwave and placed the container of meat inside before starting it up, heating the contents. 

 

“What are you doing down here?”

 

Sans yelped loudly, jumping about a foot in the air and spinning around to face the intruder, bottle  of mustard clutched tightly in one hand. 

 

Red was standing in the doorway, dressed in shorts and a tank top and looking more than a little rumpled, as though he’d just rolled out of bed. He paused in rubbing at his eye sockets, looking at Sans incredulously for a moment. 

 

“Uh…” he grinned widely before stepping forward, gently taking the bottle from Sans’ hand and setting it aside before reaching out to rub at his humeri, as though trying to warm him up. “Ya plannin’ to mustard a burglar to death? Because it would take a special kind of weak bastard to--”

 

“Oh, shut it,” Sans said, grinning lightly before turning around in his arms, stopping the microwave just before it went off and taking out the now-heated food. “Get me a fork, would you?”

 

He could feel more than hear Red laughing behind him, but, obligingly, he leaned over and opened the silverware drawer as Sans squirted a copious amount of mustard over the meat, pointedly ignoring the way the concoction smelled. Taking the fork from his still-laughing partner, he scooped up as big of a bite as he could fit, stuffing it into his mouth. 

 

As soon as the taste hit him, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he let out a noise somewhat reminiscent of moan, making Red laugh again. Sans finished chewing, then grinned. “To answer your question, I was hungry.” He took another bite, then looked up again, head tilted to one side. “Why are  _ you _ down here?”

 

“I’m getting into Blue’s chocolate stash.”

 

Sans choked on his next bite, eyes widening. “You found it again?!”

 

Red shrugged self-importantly. “Nothing can ever be truly hidden from the Magnificent Red.”

 

“You’re such a dork.”

 

“Yeah…” Red shrugged, grinning at him softly. “But you love me anyways, right?”

 

“Of course I do. Not as much as these fucking awful mustard cravings, though, these are awesome.”

 

“Better than ketchup, though, right?”

 

“I fucking take it back, tell me where the chocolate is and go the fuck back to bed.”

 

~~~

 

“What about ‘Haettenschweiler’?”

 

“No!”

 

“Aw, c’mon, Blue, that’s the perfect baby name--”

 

Sans grinned at Red from his place on the couch, Blue’s head in his lap while Red was sprawled on the floor, phone in front of his face as he browsed through font names. 

 

“Why does it even need to be a font?” Blue asked, frowning. Sans chuckled, already knowing Red’s answer from the last few times they’d had this argument. He reached down, idly smoothing his hand over the side of Blue’s head. 

 

“Because it’s tradition! Wing-Ding, Papyrus, Comic Sans...It’s just a thing!”

 

“A  _ stupid  _ thing!”

 

Sans’ summoned stomach was just barely starting to grow, the tiniest of bumps visible past his white T-shirt. Lately, Blue hadn’t seemed to be able to keep his hands off of it, and even now was no exception, despite the somewhat awkward position it put his arms in.

 

“It is not a stupid thing! Families do themes all the time!” Red huffed, propping himself up on one elbow and scrolling through his phone some more. “Like, how cool would it be to have a kid named Microgramma?”

 

Blue sighed loudly, his thumb rubbing in circles right where a human’s belly button would be. “That sounds like a radioactive disease.”

 

“Akzidenz-Grotesk?”

 

“Red!”

 

“Okay, okay,” he sighed, laying back down. “I’ll be serious.”

 

There was a moment of silence, and Sans relaxed back into the couch, closing his eyes and basking in the light touches and the warmth of the room. 

 

“Cheltenham?”

 

“That’s it, you’ve lost baby-naming privileges!”

 

“What?! You don’t get to ban me! I’m a baby-naming genius!”

 

“How are you in any way--”

 

Sans tuned them out, letting their voices fade down to an incoherent babble. It was so calm in his mind, peaceful and wonderful. He could feel himself relaxing, calming down and sinking into the couch cushions. 

 

He didn’t think he’d ever felt so…

 

_ Happy _ .


	9. Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings in the end notes.

When Sans woke up, he wasn’t entirely sure what had roused him.  

 

The house was completely silent, save for the ticking of the clock and the soft breathing of his partners. He could feel the weight of an arm wrapped around him, holding him close to the slightly larger skeleton behind him, and Blue was huddled up into the front of Sans’ ribcage, tucked in as closely as he could possibly get. He cracked a sleepy smile, reaching out with the hand that wasn’t trapped under his body to cup Blue’s cheek. Ever since they’d found out about his pregnancy, they’d been sleeping with him tucked tightly in between them. It got a little annoying sometimes, with Blue being the restless sleeper that he was, but he knew it made them feel safer. It made him feel safer, too, to have them be so--

 

His body lurched as a spike of pain shot through him, and his eyes flew open the rest of the way. For a moment, he just lay there, the hand on Blue’s face deathly still as he tried to deny to himself where the pain had come from. 

 

Then it came again, and he sucked in a sharp breath, shooting up to sit as his hands went to his stomach. Nonononono…

 

He tried to scoot his pelvis back, so that he could sit up properly, so that he could take care of this, make this stop, but another burst of pain had him falling back, smacking his head on the headboard as he gasped in pain. He could feel hot tears gathering in his eyes, burning trails down his face as his hands hovered over his middle. The pain was coming in waves, the breaks between them becoming shorter and shorter, pulsing their way over the summoned flesh of his abdomen. 

 

“Sans...?”

 

He could feel someone, half-asleep, reaching for him, and he grabbed onto the hand, trying not to sob as he held on almost too tightly. Another pain hit, and he felt his body tense, beyond speaking as he squeezed his eyes shut. 

 

“Sans! Sans, are you okay?”

 

The fear was the worst part, he decided. It hurt,  _ God _ it hurt, but he could hear the fear in Red’s voice echoing the emotion that felt like it was choking him. He didn’t know what was happening, where this was coming from, but he knew that something was very,  _ very _ wrong. 

 

He felt Red moving beside him, sitting up and cupping his cheeks, and he reached up with shaking hands to grip loosely onto the other’s shirt. “R-red, I-I don’t know what’s h-happening--”

 

“Shh, sweetheart, it’s all gonna be okay,” he heard the other murmur, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears that were still somehow spilling down Sans’ cheeks. He cracked his eyes open and saw Red kneeling over him, his eyes filled with the same fear that was coloring his voice, enough fear that Sans  _ knew _ he had to be lying. It wasn’t going to be okay, something was  _ wrong _ .

 

Red was shaking Blue awake, and while the other was distracted, Sans let go of the cloth he had been gripping so tightly, reaching down for the hem of his shirt and pulling it up just enough that he could see his summoned stomach. The dark blue flesh was pulsing slightly, the faint amount of light it was giving off fading a little with each passing moment. He could see the inverted heart of the little soulling, still tiny even though it had grown just enough for Sans’ stomach to have started to get rounder, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the way it seemed to be flickering. 

 

What…

 

What had he done  _ wrong _ ?

 

There were hands on his face again, and he looked up and into the pretty blue eyelights of his other soulmate. “Sans, breathe,” Blue murmured. “Deep breaths, we’re calling the doctor, it’s okay. Just take deep breaths.” 

 

Blue breathed in deeply and audibly, coaxing Sans to do the same. In...out….in...out… Sans could feel himself calming, the shivers he hadn’t even known were wracking his body slowing until he was lying still. Another bout of pain rushed through him, worse this time, and he cried out, his fingers curling more tightly into the hem of his shirt. He could hear Red’s voice, speaking to someone on the phone, and he forced himself to focus on the tone of it. 

 

Blue kept up his deep breathing, but Sans could see his chest stuttering, holding back panicked tears. Sans was reminded, very suddenly, that this was not just his child. 

 

_ “Sans, I'm going to be a parent!” _

 

Before he could collapse back into sobs, Red was back, the phone still pressed to the side of his face. “Sans, it’s okay, there’s a doctor on the way, it’s all going to be okay.” He sounded more like he was reassuring himself than Sans, but he clung to the promise anyway. 

 

Maybe...maybe this was normal. Well, not normal, maybe, but...recoverable. Maybe the doctor could fix it and it would all be okay, and--

 

Another pain ripped through him, the worst he had felt yet, and his body curled in on itself as he screamed out in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut against it, his hands dropping to press against his middle, to reassure himself that it was still there, that his baby was still there.

 

Just before his fingers could make contact with the ectoflesh, there was a quiet  _ pop _ , and the stomach was gone. Blue liquid gushed over his fingers, and everyone in the room seemed to freeze. Sans’ eyes flew open, staring down at himself in horrified realization. 

 

The soulling was still there, nestled into the side of his pelvis. When it had been surrounded by his body, it had been impossible to tell what color it was, what color the magic that made up his baby’s soul was going to be. Now, as it sat out in the open air, their view unobstructed by anything at all, it was easy to see the rich, deep purple of the tiny inverted heart. 

 

Perseverance. 

 

Their child would never give up. Sans felt his soul swell, a split second of happiness cutting through the pain. Their baby had perseverance. 

 

Then, before any of them even had time to move, the color began to die away, fading into a light gray before their eyes. It only took the time from one breath to the next before nothing was left but a tiny pile of dust.

 

Sans had never seen a pile of dust that was so, so  _ small _ .

 

~~~

 

Blue felt himself freeze, hands hovering over where they had just been about to settle on Sans’ shoulders. He stared down at the dust, the blue liquid seeping into the sheets, the frozen terror on Sans’ face, and he did the only thing he could think to do. Before the dust could be lost to the mess of liquids, he leaned over Sans, carefully scooping up the grayish-white powder before pulling it close to his chest, careful not to let a single grain of it spill.

 

The others were watching him, empty-eyed, as he crossed the room, opening a drawer with the shaking fingers of his free hand and retrieving his scarf. Then, just as carefully, inwardly terrified that the tiny pile of dust would blow away, he laid the cloth out straight, gently letting the sandy remains fall onto it. 

 

There was one more moment of deathly stillness, absolute silence, as Blue folded in the ends of his scarf, protecting what was left of..of their…

 

Then Sans cried out again, the sound one of grief instead of pain. Blue looked back to see Red frozen, staring at the scarf, and Sans with his face buried in his hands, shaking like a leaf.

Blue could feel Sans’ grief trickling through their bond, but he just wasn’t...wasn’t quite there yet. So he just crossed the room again, sitting on the bed beside Sans and wrapping his arms around him as he sobbed. He felt Red join him, shushing Sans quietly and letting him cry into his jacket. 

Blue knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that when the emptiness faded, he would wish he could have it back, so he clung to it. He clung to the lack of grief, to the lack of sadness, to the lack of anything at all, because he  _ knew _ it was better than the alternative. 

 

He knew he would feel it all later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE CHAPTER ALL THOSE TAGS ARE FOR. MISCARRIAGE, GRIEF, ETC. BE CAREFUL.


	10. Recovery?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grief

Red let his back hit the wall outside of their room, his shoulderblades protesting sharply from the impact. He ignored the small pain, letting himself half-fall to sit on the ground with his back to the wall. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face in his knees and beginning to cry. 

 

He could feel Blue slide down to sit next to him, wrapping an arm around the tops of his shoulders, but he didn’t react. He could feel the other’s worry through their bond, and he clung to it, knowing that if he let himself focus on what Sans was feeling, he would break down completely. 

The doctor was taking care of him, cleaning him up and diagnosing the problem. He’d asked the two of them to leave the room so that he could calm Sans down, get him to explain what had happened. But it didn’t matter what the doctor did. They’d all seen it.

 

Their child was gone. 

 

He sobbed harder, his crimson-dyed tears staining the bone around his eyes and dripping down onto his legs. Blue was still holding on to him, arms squeezing tightly, but Red barely noticed. He’d gone his whole damn life wishing for a child,  _ knowing  _ he would never get to have one. And now…

 

Well, he’d been right. 

 

He should have known that anything he had a part in creating wouldn’t be...wouldn’t be… He let out a ragged breath, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. Even now, he couldn’t think of them as anything less than perfect. Even though they were…

 

God, what kind of father would he have  _ been _ , anyway? Here he was, sitting on the floor and crying instead of doing  _ anything _ even remotely helpful. He hadn’t even checked to see if Blue was--

 

There was a quiet sniffle from beside him, and he turned to see tears tracing their way down Blue’s face. He seemed to be trying to hold them in, trying to be strong, to be there for Red. His eyes softened even as another sob wracked his body, and he reached out, pulling Blue close. 

 

They were quiet for a long time, just holding each other and crying freely, sending what little calm they could muster to Sans.

 

“For what it’s worth,” Blue whispered, breaking the silence and causing Red to shift his tear-filled gaze to meet Blue’s. “You would have been an  _ amazing _ dad.”

 

Not even years of self-hatred like Red had built up could deny the honesty and love trickling through their bond.

 

~~~

 

It had been a running joke for as long as they’d known each other, whether Sans or Red was more “powerful”. It’d started as “I could kick your ass and your brother’s ass, fight me.” and quickly turned into fact-checks and taking measurements of their own magic capacity, trying to one-up each other like the nerds they were.

 

It had just been a fucking joke. 

 

And when it was officially confirmed, the higher magic capacity belonging to Sans once and for all, no arguments possible, it had been a  _ hilarious _ joke.

 

God, it had been so funny when Red found out. 

 

So. Goddamn. Funny.

 

Sans couldn’t feel  _ anything _ about what the doctor was saying. All he knew was that it wasn’t funny anymore.

 

This was his fault. 

 

“...and because you have so much excess magic, it floods the ectoplasmic tissue. Most of the time, that isn’t a problem, but I’ve never seen so much magic in one monster.”

 

The doctor’s eyes are pitying, full of soft empathy that  _ has _ to be fake because how could he possibly know how Sans feels? Not even Sans knows how he feels. He doesn’t feel anything at all. Just a cold, dead  _ emptiness _ , but it’s far preferable to the sharp bursts of pain that had been assaulting him until his partners left the room. 

 

“The cause did not lie with the child; the child itself was perfectly healthy at your last checkup, but it appears as though you are incapable of carrying a child yourself. Is it possible that one of your partners could carry instead, or that you could look into a surrogate if you were to try again?”

 

_ Try again? _

 

Sans couldn’t tear his eyes away from the doctor’s, he hadn’t been able to for the entire time he’d been in the room. He didn’t quite know why, just that it felt as though if he looked away, he’d never be able to look back up.

 

“In any case, Mr. Serif, you appear to be fine, and you shouldn’t have any health concerns at all, beyond some soreness. Please, call me again if anything else comes up, but that is all that I can offer you at this time.”

 

The doctor stood, gathering his things, probably preparing to call Blue and Red back into the room.

 

“Wait…”

 

Sans heard his own voice echo out into the empty air, the sound of it surprising even him. His throat must be dry; he sounded as though he was dying of dehydration.

 

_ Was this my fault? _

 

Sans has spent a lot of time around doctors, whether they be medical doctors or not, and he knows how annoying the stupid questions get after a while. There are some things a patient should be able to figure out themselves, that they shouldn’t waste their doctor’s time with if they already know the answer.

 

Right?

 

_ Was this my fault? _

 

“C-can you hand me that cup of water?” he asked, his voice still dry as he pointed to the nightstand. The doctor nodded, caringly, and crossed the room to pick up the cup before handing it over. 

 

“You’ll be feeling better in no time, Mr. Serif.”

 

~~~

 

Blue stared down at the soft blue cloth of his scarf, fingers trailing over the hem. He could feel his soul tightening, filled with something he didn’t know how to describe, but that he’d been feeling more and more lately. 

 

It was clean, now, the dust it had protected having been brushed into a special container meant for this kind of thing. A normal monster funeral would entail spreading the dust over the monster’s favorite thing, but what could you use for a monster that had never even had a chance to live, let alone have favorites?

 

Blue’s breath hitched, and he pulled the drawer open, beginning to stuff the cloth inside before rethinking, folding the scarf carefully and setting it on top of the other contents before pushing the drawer closed. He followed it forward, nearly collapsing against the front of the dresser. He stopped himself just in time, locking his knees and propping his elbows on the dark wood as he took a few deep breaths. 

 

All his life, Blue had been seen as a child. Even as an adult, people had a tendency to pinch his cheeks and call him cute. But...he’d never really seen himself as a child. He’d always been ready to grow up, ready to chase his dreams, ready to run a million miles an hour into the nearest big adventure. As he’d gotten older, done more, seen more, he’d learned that sometimes the “big adventure” might not seem so big from the outside. It only had to be something that left your soul racing, made you ache for more even as it seemed like you should hate it.

 

God, he’d been so ready for this adventure.

 

Pain lanced through his soul again, and he pressed his hand tightly to his eyes as he tried to stave off the incoming tears. He’d cried far too much over the past week. 

 

He was so tired of being sad.

 

~~~

 

“Breakfast is ready.”

 

Sans sighed, his already-closed eyes squeezing even tighter shut before he convinced himself to open them. He looked up, not bothering to move his head, and came face-to-face with Red, half-crouching at the side of the bed. They just looked at each other for a moment, Sans fighting to keep his face expressionless until, suddenly, he couldn’t anymore. 

 

Rolling over, he pulled the blankets up to his chin, closing his eyes again. “I’m not hungry.”

 

A weight settled onto the mattress, hesitantly, as though Red didn’t really want to be here either. “You still need to eat.”

 

“...I know.”

 

Sans felt warmth at his back as Red laid down, throwing an arm across his ribcage and pulling him back into his own chest. “So come down, just try to eat something, okay?”

 

Sans’ eyes cracked open, and he glanced down at the arm that encircled his torso. Something about the contact was putting a bad taste in his mouth, a sour sort of tinge to his thoughts that kind of made him want to cry. He squeezed his eyes shut again.

 

“My soul hurts, I don’t know if I can-”

 

“I’ll carry you.” The response was immediate, a knee-jerk response, almost. Sans wondered if Red regretted it. He knew he would have. Who would want to have to carry a goddamn adult around the house like he was was a ch--

 

His soul gave another pulse, and he winced visibly. Behind him, Red sighed, sitting up and propping himself up with his hands. “Would you come down if I carried you?”

 

“...I guess.”

 

“And try to look happy while I do it,” Red said, hauling himself to his feet before turning back to his partner. “I think Blue’s worried you’re gonna fall down or something.” 

 

The words were spoken as though he was forcing a smile, a worried, half-serious joke of a thing. Sans could feel himself sinking down into the mattress, wishing he could just stay here forever and not have to worry about what would happen if he  _ did _ fall down. 

 

Maybe that would be preferable.

 

Before he could continue any further down that train of thought, Red scooped him up. He tossed the blanket to one side as he held him to his chest, adjusting his grip until Sans was settled comfortably into him. Before he could really think about it, Sans felt himself pressing himself closer, wishing for the comfort of another soul so close to his own. 

 

His soul clenched again.

 

Red used his feet to kick open the door, probably a bit louder than he should have, and walked down the hallway carrying Sans like an invalid. He did his best not to hate it as much as he felt like he should be as he was toted down the stairs and into the kitchen before being placed in a chair.

 

“Sans!” 

 

Even across the room, dressed in a blue t-shirt and what looked like an old pair of Red’s shorts, Blue’s relief was obvious. Sans felt a flash of guilt at the expression on his face, but he forced himself to smile in return. “Hey, Blue. What’re you makin’?”

 

“Uh…” Blue looked back at the pan, as though he’d forgotten what he was cooking in his excitement at seeing Sans out of bed and...well, not  _ walking _ around. Being lugged around. 

“Pancakes!”

 

Red sat in the chair on Sans’ other side, crossing his legs in the chair like a barbarian. Blue spared him a disapproving look, but didn’t comment on it, turning his attention back to Sans as he waited for a reply. 

 

“That’s, uh, that’s awesome, Blue,” he forced out, but he could feel himself warming up to the idea of actually eating something. “Chocolate chip pancakes?”

 

A grin that could rival the core in it’s brightness sprouted across Blue’s face. “They can be!”

 

Sans grinned, the warmth spreading a little further as the humor felt a little more real. “They’d  _ better _ be, Blue, c’mon.”

 

Blue snorted, rolling his eyes, but he turned around almost immediately, stretching up for where he kept the chocolate chips “hidden”. 

 

“Don’t look!”

 

“Sure,” Red and Sans said at the same time, neither bothering to even shift their gazes away from where they already knew the chocolate had been tucked. Sans’ grin widened, a trace of something  _ before _ in it, and leaned back a bit in his chair. He shifted to get more comfortable, wincing as his spine scraped against the wood of the chair. Red’s gaze snapped to him immediately, but he just waved him off, the discomfort not even worth an investigation. Almost automatically, his hands dropped, preparing to settle on a space just above his spine.

 

When his fingers met nothing at all, he could  _ feel _ himself reeling, snatching his hands away from the area as though he’d been burned. His sockets stung for a moment, and he took a deep breath as he settled his hands instead on the table, resisting the urge to press his forehead to the cool wood. 

 

When he felt as though he’d regained some semblance of control over his emotions, he looked up, straight into the worried gaze of Red. 

 

“It’s fine,” he mumbled before the other could say anything at all. “I’m fine.”

 

“Sans--”

 

“ _ What _ , Blue?” he snapped, not even looking over as he curled his fingers, dull phalanges pressing into the wood of the table without leaving a mark like they would have for Red. “Are you gonna say we need to talk about it? Have a little heart-to-heart? Because it’s  _ not _ happening.” 

 

The silence in the kitchen was deafening, all three occupants almost deathly still as it felt like the whole world was holding its breath. Then there was a soft sniff, almost inaudible, and Blue turned back to the stove, going back to flipping the pancakes without a word. Red and Sans both watched him, refusing to look at each other, or anywhere else at all, really, but it was Sans that noticed the shaking of his shoulders first. 

 

He sighed deeply, considering just for a moment of trying to stand up and properly apologize before his soul gave another sharp pang. “Blue, I’m--”

 

“Sans, you are  _ not _ the only one who is in pain!” 

 

Red looked shocked by his own outburst, but he quickly steeled his resolve, meeting the other’s gaze unflinchingly. Sans’ eyelights were dim, but they had been the entire time he’d been downstairs, so Red powered on. 

 

“We...we are  _ all _ hurting, and all we fucking have is each other!  _ Shit _ , Sans, we thought  _ you _ were going to die, too!”

 

“Red--”

 

“No, Blue, you  _ know _ that he needs to hear this!” he interrupted, sparing him a softer glance before his voice lost some of his sharpness. “We all  _ need _ to talk to each other, we need to...to figure out what we’re going to do, where we’re going from here, what needs to--”

 

“What, like  _ trying again _ ?”

 

Sans’ voice was cold, empty of any identifiable emotion. He was looking down at his lap, his hands having retreated into his pockets. “Are we gonna figure out how to fucking fix me or something? It’s not going to fucking happen, Red, I’m  _ sorry _ !” He looked up, and Red drew back, shocked by the look in the other’s eyes. “I know you both had your fucking hearts set on me not, oh, I don’t know, completely fucking  _ failing _ you, but  _ oh no, _ that’s what I did!  _ Wowie, _ that’s gotta be the first time that’s ever happened!” 

 

Blue looked at Red for a moment, mouth hanging slightly open as he processed what Sans was saying. 

 

“But I know you both wanted to be parents, and now you can’t, and it’s my fault! But let’s fucking  _ talk _ about it! That’ll fix everything!”

 

“Sans--”

 

“This is  _ all _ me! It’s all on me! I’m the one that’s fucked up, I’m the reason your fucking kid died, so what are  _ we _ gonna do about that?!”

 

Sans looked between them, brows raised in a sarcastic question, but his eyes were starting to spill over, the tears that had begun to pool starting to stream down his face and leave blue stains in the bone. 

 

“What, nothing to say? You don’t want to talk anymore? I’m so fucking  _ surprised _ .” He took a shaky breath in, then let it out all at once, trying to stave off the flow of tears before he couldn’t speak past them. “Well, I have something to say. If you w-want this so  _ fucking _ bad, you’re going to have to get it without me! I  _ can’t. _ I’m  _ broken _ . So if y-you’re even capable of being honest with yourselves for one goddamn second, think about that!”

 

The only sound for almost a full minute was the ticking of the clock, echoing in a way that seemed deafeningly loud in the oppressive silence.

 

“Sans, we don’t blame you.”

 

Sans didn’t even look up in response to the trembling voice, and Blue looked at Red for help. Red, however, had his eyes locked on Sans’ face, eyelights trembling. Blue steeled his resolve, forcing himself to continue. 

 

“This isn’t your fault, and we don’t blame you. It just...it wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”

 

Sans scoffed lightly, but he was looking down at his lap again, his fire having burned itself out to make way for the guilt that was weighing him down further than much of anything else. “It could be, you know.”

 

Blue furrowed his brow, and Red sat back in his chair, both regarding him with confusion. “What could be?”

 

“You…” Sans picked at the hem of his jacket, his gaze stubbornly fixed on the motion. “You could have a kid. I know how much it meant to both of you, but I can’t….it’s never going to happen with me in the picture.”

 

Red leaned forward in his chair, grabbing Sans’ hand and holding it tightly in the same moment that Blue turned off the stove, crossing the room to sit in one of the other chairs. 

 

“Sans,” Red said, quietly, but with a hard resolve neither of his partners had heard from him in a long time. “I don’t want a kid if you’re not a part of them, too.”

 

Sans tried to fix him with a glare, but it fell short, and he sighed. “I’m really not hungry,” he mumbled, pulling his hand away to pick at his coat some more. “I just want to sleep, can...can I  _ please _ go to bed?”

 

Blue and Red exchanged a glance, their sadness and exhaustion mirrored in their already-similar faces. 

 

“Yeah, of course,” Red said gently, turning his attention back to Sans. 

 

“I’ll bring you up a plate a bit later,” Blue murmured, standing carefully before leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to Sans’ cheek. “Sleep well, okay?”

 

Sans just nodded, closing his eyes as Red picked him back up, keeping his breathing soft.

 

Soft.

 

Slow. 

 

Calm.

 

Maybe if he pretended it, he could actually feel anything but broken.


	11. Lust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left! Next will be the epilogue!

The crunch of snow under Lust’s boots echoed through the still air of Snowdin town; there weren’t a lot of people out and about at this time of night, even in a mostly-friendly world like UnderSwap, darkness wasn’t the safest environment to be out on the streets in. He rounded the corner of the house that was so much like his own, coming from the basement and on his way to the front door. ‘

Why, he still wasn’t entirely sure. 

 

Climbing the front steps, he steeled his resolve, breathing in carefully, then out slowly, calming the racing of his soul before he reached up, his hand hesitating a mere inch from the wood. 

 

God, this was  _ so _ overstepping his bounds. 

 

He knocked anyway, the rapping of his fist against the door filling the air. There was a moment of silence, then the sound of footsteps approaching from inside the house could be heard, slow and tired against what he knew to be a well-worn carpet. The door opened, revealing a tired-looking Blue, who immediately crinkled his brow in confusion. “Lust? What are you--”

 

“Can I talk to Sans?”

 

The words were out of his mouth before he could really think about them, and he immediately cringed as Blue’s confusion only deepened. 

 

“Lust, it’s almost ten o’clock,” he said slowly, making no move to open the door and invite him inside. 

 

“I know,” he said quietly, shuffling his feet for a moment before he continued. “Please, Blue? It’s really important.”

 

Blue must have seen the promise in his eyes, and there was a tired sort of weariness coming into his expression the longer they stood there in silence. 

 

“Okay...okay, come in.”

 

“Thank you,” he murmured, stepping past Blue and into the living room before slipping off his boots. Blue shut the door and turned around, regarding him carefully before letting out an exhausted sigh. 

 

“He’s upstairs.” he said quietly, gesturing at the stairway before shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think he’s asleep, but if he is, please don’t wake him up.”

 

Lust nodded his agreement, distracted for a moment as he noticed Red sprawled across the couch, fast asleep. Blue followed his gaze, and the sadness in his own eyes only seemed to deepen before he looked back at Lust. “Go ahead,” he said quietly, gesturing again at the stairs. 

Turning away, Lust shook his head to clear it of his thoughts before he began climbing the stairs, doing his best to ignore the atmosphere that filled the house. 

 

Pushing open the bedroom door, he peeked inside, remembering only at the last second that he should have knocked first. Before he could duck back out, however, the figure that was curled up on the floor below the window stirred, and Sans’ head poked out of the nest of blankets he was surrounded in. 

 

Rubbing his eyes, he squinted in Lust’s direction, looking confused. Lust, for his part, elected to just bite the bullet and come the rest of the way into the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. 

 

“Lust? What’re you--”

 

“Hey, Sans,” he said, and at his tone, the other’s eyes immediately filled with something almost like anger, if it hadn’t been so incredibly sad. 

 

“How did you find out?”

 

Lust was silent for a minute, taking a deep breath as he crossed the room to the bed and sat heavily, realizing all at once that he was not nearly as prepared for this conversation as he should have been. “Your brother told me.”

 

Sans sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes again as he sat up. Lust wondered, for a moment, what he’d been doing over by the window, but his question was almost immediately answered as he caught sight of the view, the star crystals planted in the cave ceiling just barely visible from the angle he had from up on the bed. 

 

“So what are you doing here?”

 

Lust swallowed his nervousness not fading at all the more this conversation went along. “I want to help.”

 

“Lust...no offense or anything, but--”

 

“But how am I going to help?”

 

Sans nodded helplessly, and the shift in the lighting across his face made the dark burns of exhaustion under his eyes stand out all the more. 

 

“I…” Lust was suddenly at a loss for words, and he dropped his gaze, looking down at his lap as he tried to think of what to say. “Sans, I know how you feel.”

 

There was a sharp intake of breath, and he inwardly cringed. He shouldn’t have even had to think to know that that was the wrong thing to say. 

 

“How could you possibly think that you--”

 

“ _ I know how you feel _ ,” he insisted, still not able to tear his gaze up from the carpet. There was a stain, just a shade or two darker than the rest of the floor, right next to his left foot, and he focused on it like it was the most important thing in the world. 

 

The silence was absolutely deafening, pounding in his ears like someone screaming obscenities into a megaphone. 

 

“Oh.”

 

Sans’ voice, even as soft as it was, made him jump, and he looked up, locking eyes with the smaller skeleton. He looked  _ so _ tired. Lust wasn’t sure he’d ever even seen himself so tired. 

“I...I had a...a long-term relationship, once,” he said quietly, holding eye contact as he spoke. “Grillby, back in my world, he’s...he’s a really great guy. The only person, really, that I ever….wanted  _ that _ with. The whole...picket-fence thing.”

 

Sans’ eyes had lost some of their emptiness, filled instead with a sort of morbid curiosity that Lust couldn’t help but understand. He took a deep breath, and continued.

 

“It was the only pregnancy scare I ever had that I was actually scared of, and it was for an entirely different reason than most of them were. It was fucking terrifying, but...I mean...you know what I mean.”

 

Sans just nodded, still watching him carefully.

 

“Then one night I just…” Lust’s gaze finally dropped, focusing on his hands as he forced them to unclench from the fur of his jacket. “I woke up and I--”

 

“You don’t have to say it.” Sans murmured, his voice barely audible. Lust looked up, his eyelights focusing slowly as he felt the sting of tears behind his eyes. 

 

“They were gone,” he said quietly, his voice thick. “I had just gotten used to them, and they were gone.”

 

Sans had gone completely still, not even the blankets wrapped around his shoulders shifting as he stared up at his alternate. 

 

“They were green. Kindness.” Lust let out a short laugh. “I remember thinking that was so funny, that any kid of mine would have  _ kindness _ as their primary trait. But...I could see it for Grillby’s kid. He was so  _ goddamn _ kind, it sometimes didn’t seem fair. And I felt like...I felt like I’d failed him. Like he’d given me everything and I hadn’t even been able to--”

 

He was cut off abruptly by a hitch in his chest, and he looked up towards the ceiling, taking a deep breath. 

 

“Do you ever…” Sans trailed off, and Lust forced himself to look back down at him, teeth clenched against his own emotions. 

 

“Does it ever feel better?” Sans asked, his voice hollow. 

 

Lust just looked at him for  a few seconds, trying to decide how to answer. 

 

“I wouldn’t know,” he said, finally. “I...I fucked things up, pushed Grillby away because I couldn’t handle the thought that it was because of me. I’ve...I’ve had to do this alone. It’s been  _ three goddamn years _ , and this is the first time I’ve--” 

 

Sans snorted quietly, withdrawing back behind the mask that Lust recognized all too well. “So that’s what this is, huh?”

 

“...what?”

 

“This is a ‘don’t make my mistakes’ speech?”

 

Lust narrowed his eyes, staring down at Sans as though he’d never seen him before. “Excuse me?”

 

“I dont…” Sans clenched his teeth for a moment, his fingers curling into the cloth of the blanket. “I didn’t need you to tell me I shouldn’t do it myself, that it isn’t  _ good _ for me. I don’t give a shit about me, it’s  _ them _ I care about--”

 

“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Lust cut him off, shaking his head sharply. “Do you have any idea how much they love you? How lost they would be if you were to...to do whatever the hell it is you think you have to do? You’re smarter than this, Sans.”

 

“Who do you--”

 

“Sans! Stop it!” Lust growled. “You’re damn right, this is a ‘don’t make my mistakes’ speech, because if you  _ keep _ making my mistakes, you’re going to end up just fucking like me! Alone, and stuck in the past, in something I couldn’t have changed. I am  _ fucked up _ . You don’t need a degree in psychology to see how fucked up I am, and you don’t fucking deserve to have that happen to you!”

 

Sans immediately opened his mouth, probably preparing some retort or another, but Lust cut him off with a frustrated wave of his hand. 

 

“Don’t you dare! You  _ don’t _ deserve it. Neither do I, neither does anyone! It. Was. Not. Your. Fault.”

 

“I--”

 

“Red and Blue love you more than I’ve ever seen anyone love anyone else, and I  _ know _ you love them too, Sans.  _ Please _ . Do not make my mistakes.”

 

Sans was quiet for a long time before, finally, he nodded. 

 

“Thank you.” Lust breathed a sigh of relief, hands coming down to rub subconsciously against his own femurs, an old nervous tic. “But that wasn't… This wasn't originally meant to be a ‘don't make my mistakes’ speech. I was just…”

 

He looked down at his lap, then back up at Sans, who was just watching him again. “I….the real answer to your question? About if it gets better?” He shrugged self-consciously. “I suppose it does. You never really forget, and you never really...you don’t stop being sad. But it gets better. You learn to deal with it, to stop imagining what could have been, and you sort of….accept it.”

 

Sans shifted, reaching up to rub at his face for a moment before he nodded again. “I hope so.”

 

“It does. It really does.” Lust promised. “It’s...hard to think about, but if the only thing you can focus on is the life your kid might have had, you’ll never move on. And, Sans, you  _ need  _ to move on. There’s so much waiting for you out there, don’t let this be...the end of it all, you know?”

 

There was a moment, just a moment, where it looked as though Sans was going to argue. Where it looked as though he may yell or cry or kick Lust out of the room altogether. 

Then he sighed, and his face crumpled. 

 

“I know.”

 

~~~

Sans hesitated at the top of the stairs, clutching tightly to the railing to support his aching body. He didn’t want to do this, he  _ couldn’t _ fucking do this, but he had no choice. 

 

Taking a deep breath, he began the descent, one painful stair at a time, making his way to the living room where he could hear the TV going, the soft murmur of his partner’s voices just barely audible over the positively dulcet tones of napstabot’s latest hit.

 

Reaching the last step, he gave a sigh of relief. Stairs were fucking awful, especially since his soul was sending pulses of soreness down to his legs that were making him want to--

 

“Sans, what the hell are you doing?!”

 

He jumped in surprise as Red was suddenly by his side, making a move as though he was about to pick Sans up and carry him right back up the stairs. 

 

“Wait! Wait, no, I’m good, I want to--” he gestured vaguely at the couch, and Red took a step back, watching him uncertainly. Blue was peeking at them over the top of the couch, looking concerned, but Sans shot him a strained smile as he hobbled over to join him. Leaning heavily on the arm of the couch as he came around to the front, he again questioned why the fuck he was doing this. 

 

Well, he knew why. 

 

He finally managed to sit on the couch, breathing heavily, and Blue turned around, sitting back down and watching him uncertainly. Red hesitated on the edge of the room next to the stairs, eyes narrowed in confusion and worry. Sans glanced back at him, forcing another smile, and patted the seat next to him. 

 

Red gingerly obeyed, sitting on the edge of the cushion as though ready to leap off and sprint away at any second. Blue was watching him carefully, knees drawn up to his chest as he grabbed the remote, turning the TV off and giving Sans his full attention before he even had to ask for it. 

 

Sans breathed in, then out. Then did it again. Slowly. Calmly. Carefully. 

 

He could do this. 

 

“Okay,” he said, his voice coming out with a crackle. He cleared his throat, and continued, feeling the eyes of both partners on him.

 

“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s….let’s talk.”


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One Year Later

“Red, will you fucking hold still?”

 

Red huffed, lifting his chin further into the air and fighting to keep himself still, despite the nerves that were making him want to re-organize the entire building. God, he didn’t like this. He was  _ stress-cleaning _ .

 

“Really, boss? Here? You’re gonna do this-- _ oof!” _

 

Fell pulled his fist from where it had just connected with Red’s ribcage, returning to straightening the other’s tie. “Yes, I’m going to do this here. Where the fuck else am I going to do it?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Red grumped, glancing to the side, where several other party-goers were visible. “Maybe not in public would be great.”

 

“Then you shouldn’t have fucked up your tie, asshole.”

 

“Why do you even care? I thought you’d enjoy it if I looked like an idiot.”

 

Fell grinned to himself, then removed his hands from Red’s throat, having finished his fussing. “Because I, for one, do not want to be on the wrong side of Blue and this event. I get the feeling he might actually dust the first person that messes something up.”

 

Red chuckled. “You may be right about that. I think Sans is hiding from him, actually.”

 

“Smart man.”

 

The brothers laughed, and Red found himself picking at the edge of his shirt, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm himself down. A hand came down on his shoulder, hard enough that his knees almost buckled underneath him. He turned to his little brother angrily, but was brought up short by the expression on the other’s face. 

 

There was something soft in Fell’s eyes, something caring and proud that Red had never seen before from his sibling. He was left floundering in the wake of it, thoroughly unprepared for the words that were leaving Fell’s mouth. 

 

“Sans…” Red was struck by the use of his real name, staring up at his brother in shock. “This is the best thing you’ve ever done for yourself. It’s something entirely wonderful to see you so...happy.” 

 

“Boss…”

 

“I’m proud of you.”

 

Red’s mouth dropped open, and Fell immediately glared at him. “If you tell anyone that I said that, I will deny it.”

 

The corner of his mouth curving up into a doofy smile, Red shot him a wink. “Aw, c’mon, Boss. They all know how much you--”

 

“Shut the fuck up or I’m taking it back.”

 

“Love you too, bro.”

 

“And I you. Which I will also deny having said.”

 

Red’s smile softened, taking in the embarrassed flush on his brother’s face before opening his mouth, about to speak.

 

“Red!”

 

His breath left him in a rush as something barrelled into his side, someone’s arms wrapping tightly around his middle as they were both spun around by the momentum. Fell snickered from where he had been left behind by Red’s ungainly exit, shaking his head as Sans immediately assaulted his older brother with his laughing excitement. Blue joined them not a moment later, stars in his eyes as he watched the scene the others made. 

 

Sans let go of Red’s middle to straighten his own sleeves, seemingly put off by the formal clothing, and Blue immediately threw his arm over the other’s shoulder, planting a kiss on his cheek. Sans let out an indignant exclamation, and Red laughed, the sound loud and clear and happy. 

 

Fell smiled to himself, turning away and making his way to the back of the room, the rare sound of his brother’s laughter following behind him. 

 

“Sir?” came a voice, and he turned to see a small rabbit monster looking up at him, an usher’s uniform pressed and fitted to them declaring their responsibility here. “I’m sorry to bother you, but are you Fell Serif?”

 

“I am.”

 

The rabbit nodded, looking relieved. “I’m sorry for the delay, sir, but we are ready for the grooms.”

Fell nodded, glancing back at his brother and his alternates as a rare smile lit up his face. 

 

“I will let them know. Thank you.”


End file.
